Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Hoarhound Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the infusion
Steep the hoarhound leaves in boiling water until cold.
Strain the mixture and pour it over the granulated sugar and vinegar.
Cook the candy
Boil without stirring, removing any scum that rises to the top.
Test the candy in cold water; when brittle, remove from heat.
Set and mark
Pour into a buttered pan and mark into squares before it cools.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Dried hoarhound leaves
- Gives the candy its characteristic bitter, herbal flavour.
- Granulated sugar
- Forms the body of the candy and sets firm and brittle as the syrup cooks down.
- Vinegar
- Adds a little acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallising.
The step that matters
Testing for brittleness before removing from heat. Sugar syrup hardens as its water boils off, so the stage at which it turns brittle in cold water determines the final texture. Removing it too early leaves the candy soft and sticky, while cooking too long can scorch it and make it bitter.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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