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 ↓
Fondants
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine the sugar and boiling water in an enamelled pan.
Heat the pan on a gas ring, ensuring only the bottom is heated.
Do not let it boil around the sides.
Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Remove the pan from the heat as needed to prevent boiling.
Skim off any scum or black specks as the mixture approaches boiling.
Add the glucose or cream of tartar. Stir until dissolved.
Return the pan to the heat. Allow the syrup to boil briskly.
Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature until it reaches 238°F (114°C).
Remove the pan from the heat. Let the air bubbles settle.
Cool and work the fondant
Pour the syrup gently into two rinsed basins. Ensure the syrup is no deeper than 1 inch.
Cream the syrup with a wooden spoon until it turns cloudy and then white.
Knead the syrup with your hands until it forms a solid creamy mass.
Color and flavor as desired.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Crystallized sugar
- Forms the crystal structure of the fondant once the syrup is worked.
- Glucose or cream of tartar
- Interferes with sugar crystallization, keeping the fondant smooth and fine-grained.
The step that matters
Creaming the syrup after it reaches temperature. Stirring or kneading the syrup while it cools forms many tiny sugar crystals, which makes the fondant smooth. Working it too early or too hot can produce a grainy texture, so the syrup must be cooled to the point where it turns cloudy and white before it is creamed.
“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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