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 ↓
Rose Buds
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 310°F (154°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Cook and divide
Boil 7 lbs of sugar with 1 oz of cream of tartar until it reaches 310°F (154°C).
Pour the mixture onto a slab and cut off one third with scissors.
Flavor and color
Flavor the remaining sugar with a few drops of oil of roses.
Color the larger portion deep red with cochineal paste, mixing well.
Pull and shape
Pull the smaller portion over a hook until it becomes white and spongy.
Lay the white sugar in the middle of the red sugar and cover it completely.
Draw it out and cut into convenient pieces for a small ball or acid drop machine.
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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Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Cream + rosetop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,086 recipes
Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Loaf or crystallized sugar
- Forms the candy base, providing sweetness and the sugar structure that sets when cooked.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that helps keep the cooked sugar smooth and resist graininess.
- Otto of roses
- Provides the rose aroma that defines the flavor.
- Cochineal paste
- Gives the larger portion its deep red color.
The step that matters
Pulling the smaller portion until white and spongy. Pulling traps air in the cooled sugar, which turns it opaque and spongy. Stop when that texture appears, since a glassy or overworked portion will not look or bite the same.
“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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