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Dessert

Divinity Candy

A sweet confection made from syrup, brown sugar, water, egg whites, salt, and nut meats.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Divinity Candy

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Combine syrup, brown sugar, and water in a saucepan.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil.

  3. Test the mixture in cold water; it should form a soft ball.

Beat, shape and set

  1. Slowly pour the hot mixture over the beaten egg whites and salt, while beating continuously until stiff.

  2. Place the bowl in cold water to speed up thickening.

  3. Fold in nut meats.

  4. Pour the mixture into buttered tins.

  5. Cut into squares once set.

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. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + meattop 22% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,432 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Syrup + eggtop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,995 recipes
  5. Sugar + meattop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,866 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

Egg whites
Whipped into a foam that gives the candy its light, airy structure.
Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and the caramel-like flavor of the candy.
Syrup
Helps keep the candy smooth by slowing the formation of sugar crystals.
Nut meats
Add crunch and texture against the soft, airy candy.

The step that matters

Test the soft ball in cold water. The syrup's final temperature sets how much water remains. Too cool leaves the candy soft and sticky, while too hot makes it hard and brittle.

“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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