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 ↓
Nougat
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the almonds
Blanch the almonds by pouring boiling water over them. Rub off the skins with a wet towel.
Cut the blanched almonds into several pieces.
Place the pieces in a 350°F (175°C) oven in a pan. Shake the pan occasionally until the almonds are very hot, but do not let them brown.
Make and set the nougat
In a thick saucepan, combine the sugar, lemon juice, and cream of tartar over medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar melts and small bubbles form.
Quickly add the hot almonds to the melted sugar. Stir gently until well mixed.
Pour the nougat onto an oiled slab or dish. Flatten and smooth the nougat with half a lemon dipped in oil. Work quickly as the nougat hardens fast.
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).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Almonds
- Provide the bulk and crunch of the nougat texture.
- Sugar
- Melts to form the sweet, chewy base that sets as the nougat cools.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps keep the sugar smooth and prevents crystallisation.
- Lemon juice
- Acidity that helps keep the sugar syrup from crystallising.
The step that matters
Work quickly once the almonds are added. Nougat hardens fast as the sugar cools and sets. If it cools before being poured and smoothed, it becomes too stiff to spread evenly, so the almonds and sugar should be combined and shaped promptly.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, cream):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, cream. 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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