Why it works: Sugar and walnut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 26% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,147 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Walnut Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and water.
Boil for 10 to 15 minutes until it reaches a soft ball stage.
Remove from heat and beat the mixture until it is white and cool.
Shape and set
Take a ball of the candy and place half a walnut on one side.
Press another half walnut on the opposite side and press them together.
Set aside to cool.
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 + 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
- White sugar
- Forms the candy base and, once boiled and beaten, sets into a firm, sweet mass.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can boil evenly before it reaches the soft ball stage.
- Halved walnuts
- Provide the nutty flavour and the decorative filling pressed into each candy ball.
The step that matters
Boiling to the soft ball stage. Sugar syrup must reach the right temperature to set correctly. Boiling too short leaves it too soft to hold shape, while overcooking makes it hard and brittle once cooled.
“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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