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 ↓
Fondant or Stock
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 240°F (115°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the syrup
Combine sugar, cream of tartar, and hot water in a pan.
Stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves and the syrup boils.
Boil gently until it reaches 240°F (115°C) or just past the thread stage, about 10 minutes.
Remove from heat and let cool for 10 minutes.
Work and shape
Pour onto a warmed flat dish and work with a palette knife until opaque.
Once firm enough, form into a roll using your hands, dusting with icing sugar to prevent sticking.
To colour and flavour, add a few drops of each and work in thoroughly.
Shape as desired and let stand for a few hours.
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
- Sugar
- Forms the sweet, bulk body of the fondant as it crystallises into a smooth mass.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps prevent large sugar crystals, keeping the fondant smooth and pliable.
- Hot water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can form a clear syrup before boiling.
The step that matters
Boil to the correct temperature. Stopping at the right point, around 240°F (115°C), sets the sugar concentration. Too little boiling leaves the fondant soft and sticky; too much makes it hard and grainy.
“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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