Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
English Walnut Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mixture
In a bowl, combine confectionery sugar, egg white, and water.
Add sugar until the mixture is thick enough to handle.
Transfer to a breadboard and knead for 15 minutes.
Shape and finish
Roll out the mixture until smooth and cut into squares.
Place a walnut half between each square.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + walnuttop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,037 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + walnuttop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,147 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Confectionery sugar
- Provides sweetness and, with the egg white, builds the body that holds the candy together.
- Egg white
- Adds structure and binds the sugar into a smooth, pliable mass.
- English walnuts
- Add crunch and a nutty flavor that contrasts with the sweet, soft candy.
The step that matters
Add sugar until the mixture is thick enough to handle. Sugar must be added gradually so the mixture thickens into a pliable dough. Too little leaves it sticky and hard to shape, while too much makes it dry and crumbly.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Pecansfits better
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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