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Dessert

Sugar Nut Candy

A candied mixture of sugar, butter, vinegar, water, and hickory nuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Sugar Nut Candy

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine sugar, butter, vinegar, and water in a thick saucepan.

  2. Cook until the mixture begins to thicken.

  3. Add the hickory nuts.

  4. To test, drop a small amount into cold water; it should be brittle.

  5. Remove from heat immediately once tested.

  6. Pour the mixture into buttered plates.

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.

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

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

  2. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

White sugar
Forms the brittle candy base as it cooks and hardens.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallising too readily.
Butter
Adds fat for a richer flavour and smoother texture.
Hickory nut kernels
Provide the nutty flavour and crunch throughout the candy.

The step that matters

Testing for brittleness before removing from heat. Sugar syrup keeps darkening and hardening as it cooks, so removing it too early leaves it soft and sticky, while waiting too long can make it burnt and bitter. A quick cold-water test shows when it has reached the brittle stage.

“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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