Why it works: Sugar and meat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 34% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,866 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Nut Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the sugar
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan and stir until dissolved.
Place the saucepan on the fire and bring to a boil.
When the mixture begins to grain, stir in the nut meats.
Set and cut
Remove from heat and pour into oiled plates or pans.
Once cooled, cut into bars.
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 + meattop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,866 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Light-brown new orleans sugar
- Forms the candy's sweet, crystalline structure as it cooks and then sets.
- Nut meats
- Add crunch and rich flavor that contrast with the set sugar.
The step that matters
Stir in the nut meats when the mixture begins to grain. As the boiled sugar starts to crystallize, it turns opaque and thickens. Adding the nuts at this moment lets them be evenly coated and held in the mass, rather than sinking or staying loose as the candy sets.
“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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