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 ↓
Glace Au Fondant
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Put the sugar into a saucepan and add the water and acid.
Heat on low until the sugar dissolves, then boil quickly.
Skim the surface and cover the saucepan for 1-2 minutes.
Insert a thermometer and boil until it reaches 230°F (110°C).
Remove from heat.
Work the fondant
Sprinkle a marble slab with warm water.
Pour the sugar onto the marble slab.
Work the sugar with a spatula, turning it in all directions. Gather the sugar with a knife or scraper until all parts are worked.
Form the sugar into a ball. Knead the ball until smooth.
Use the fondant
To use, place the desired amount in a saucepan over low heat. Stir to soften. Add a little water if necessary.
Flavor with essence 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.
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
- Loaf sugar
- Forms the crystal structure that gives fondant its smooth, soft body when worked.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked into a syrup and later softened.
- Cream of tartar or lemon juice
- Acid that helps prevent large sugar crystals from forming, keeping the fondant smooth.
The step that matters
Boiling to 230°F (110°C). Temperature sets how much water remains in the syrup, which determines how firm the fondant becomes once cooled and worked. Too low gives a soft, sticky result; too high gives a stiff, crumbly one.
“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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