Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓
Butter Creams
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar and cold water in a saucepan.
Stir with a wooden spoon until dissolved.
Bring the mixture to a boil.
Add a pinch of cream of tartar.
Do not stir again.
Wash down any sugar that forms on the sides of the pan with a damp cloth.
Cook until the mixture reaches a soft ball stage when dropped in cold water.
Remove from heat.
Make the fondant
Pour the mixture onto a platter and let it cool.
Beat with a wooden spoon until creamy.
If it becomes too hard, wrap it in a damp cloth and knead it like bread.
Work in butter to taste.
Add vanilla extract before it hardens.
Form the mixture into small balls.
Let them sit for a few minutes.
Coat and store
Melt chocolate in a double boiler.
Dip each ball in chocolate using two forks.
Place the coated balls on oil cloth or wax paper to harden.
Store any leftover fondant in a stone jar with a damp cloth on top.
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.
-
Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,020 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
-
Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,466 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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
- Forms the sweet base, and its crystals set into the smooth, creamy texture of the fondant.
- Cold water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked into a syrup without grainy crystals forming early.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidity helps stop the sugar from recrystallizing, keeping the fondant smooth.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a softer, richer texture and a smoother mouthfeel.
- Chocolate
- Forms a firm, sweet outer coating around each fondant ball.
The step that matters
Do not stir again after boiling. Stirring a boiling sugar syrup encourages crystals to form, which makes the fondant grainy. Washing down crystals on the pan sides with a damp cloth prevents them from falling back into the syrup and seeding crystallization.
“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.
More fondant recipes
You might also like
Chocolate Cream171 recipes
Vanilla Ice Cream108 recipes
Chocolate Cookies76 recipes
Chocolate Fudge55 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.