Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Vinegar Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
In a pot, combine sugar, water, and vinegar; stir before heating.
Heat the mixture on the stove without stirring.
When it is partly done, add the butter.
Before removing from heat, stir in the baking soda dissolved in hot water.
Shape the candy
Once cool enough to handle, pull the candy with your fingers until white.
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.
-
Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Sugar
- Forms the candy base and provides sweetness as it cooks into a firm, glassy mass.
- Vinegar
- Adds acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallising, giving a smoother candy.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid to release gas, making the candy light and bubbly and turning it opaque when pulled.
The step that matters
Stirring the baking soda into the hot syrup. Baking soda reacts quickly with the acid, so it must be stirred in just before removing from heat; this lets the gas form bubbles that lighten the candy before it 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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.