Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓
Sultana Fudge
Ingredients
Directions
Make the fudge
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
Add the granulated sugar, sweet milk, and molasses.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Let it boil for 7 minutes.
Add the grated chocolate and boil for 9 minutes longer.
Remove from heat.
Stir in the vanilla.
Add the ground peanuts or walnuts.
Beat the mixture hard.
Set and serve
Pour the mixture into buttered tins.
Let the tins cool.
Once cooled, cut into squares.
Serve.
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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Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,187 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).
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Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Chocolate + peanuttop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,279 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Provides sweetness and, as it dissolves and boils, builds the body of the fudge.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a rich, tender texture and smooth mouthfeel.
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, deep flavor, and moisture that keeps the fudge soft.
- Unsweetened chocolate
- Supplies chocolate flavor and fat that give the fudge its color and richness.
- Sweet milk
- Adds liquid and milk solids that contribute to a creamy texture.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture hard. Beating while the boiled sugar mixture cools causes fine sugar crystals to form, which gives fudge its smooth, firm texture instead of a grainy one.
Swap the peanut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, milk, molasses, chocolate, vanilla):
- Almondfits better
- Cocoafits about as well
- Hazelnutfits about as well
- Peanutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, milk, molasses, chocolate, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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