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 ↓
Sugar Boiling
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Use a strong enamelled pan for boiling sugar.
If using gas, ensure the burner is not too large to prevent burning sugar on the edges.
Boil the syrup
Stir the sugar until dissolved, then cover the pan and boil gently for about 5 minutes.
Remove the cover and wipe the sides of the pan with a damp cloth or sponge, avoiding contact with the syrup.
Do not move the pan or stir the contents once boiling to prevent granulation.
Add cream of tartar to the sugar to help prevent granulation.
Use a thermometer for accuracy, or perform hand tests to check the boiling degree.
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
- Cane sugar
- Dissolves to form the syrup and provides sweetness and body.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing into grains.
The step that matters
Do not move the pan or stir once boiling. Agitation once the syrup boils can trigger sugar crystals to form, causing granulation. Keeping the pan still lets the syrup stay smooth and clear.
“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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