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Peanut Candy

A sweet confection made from sugar, molasses, vinegar, and ground peanuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Peanut Candy

Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Peanut Candy

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine soft white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, and vinegar in a large pot.

  2. Boil the mixture until it forms a soft ball when tested in cold water.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in ground peanuts.

  4. Beat the mixture until it becomes creamy.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Vinegar + peanuttop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together443 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  4. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + peanuttop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,545 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Provides sweetness, moisture, and the characteristic caramel flavor of the candy.
Molasses
Adds depth of flavor, color, and moisture that keeps the candy soft.
Soft white sugar
Supplies sweetness and forms the crystalline structure as the syrup cools and sets.
Ground peanuts
Adds nutty flavor and texture to the finished candy.

The step that matters

Boil to soft ball stage. Boiling until the syrup reaches the soft ball stage controls how much water remains. Too little boiling leaves the candy sticky and soft, while overboiling makes it hard and brittle.

Swap the peanut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, vinegar):

  1. Sesamefits about as well
  2. Beansfits about as well
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Peanutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, vinegar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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