Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar, hot water, and cream of tartar in a saucepan.
Stir until dissolved, cleaning any grains from the sides with a damp cloth.
Boil over high heat until a drop in cold water forms a soft ball.
Cool and knead
Remove from heat and let cool in the pan without adding cold water.
Once cool, stir until thick and creamy.
Knead the fondant by hand until smooth and light.
Rest
Transfer to an earthen dish, cover with a damp cloth, and let stand for 2‑3 days before use.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Granulated sugar
- Forms the crystal structure that sets the smooth, creamy body of the fondant.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps prevent large sugar crystals from forming, keeping the texture smooth.
The step that matters
Let the syrup cool undisturbed. Sugar syrup left still as it cools forms fine crystals; stirring or adding cold water too early can trigger large grains, making the fondant gritty.
“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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