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Dessert

Pecan Paste

A sweet, thick mixture of sugar, molasses, butter, vinegar, and pecans.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Pecan Paste

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar and molasses and bring to a boil.

  2. While boiling, add butter and vinegar.

  3. Test the mixture by dropping a little into cold water; it should form a soft ball.

Set and cut

  1. Once cooked, pour the mixture into a buttered shallow dish covered with pecans.

  2. Allow to cool, then cut into oblong pieces.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + pecanstop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,416 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Provides sweetness and, when cooked, the sugar structure that sets the candy.
Molasses
Adds deep flavor and color, and keeps the candy chewy and moist.
Shelled pecans
Provide the nutty flavor and crunchy texture throughout the candy.
Butter
Adds richness and a softer, smoother bite to the candy.
Vinegar
Adds a slight acidity that helps balance the sweetness and prevents crystallization.

The step that matters

Testing the soft ball stage. Cooking the syrup to the soft ball stage controls its texture. Too little cooking leaves the candy sticky and soft, while too much makes it hard and brittle once cooled.

Swap the pecans

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, molasses, vinegar):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Beansfits about as well
  3. Sesamefits about as well
  4. Pecansthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, molasses, vinegar. 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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