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 ↓
Cream Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine the sugar and boiling water.
Bring to a boil and add the cream of tartar.
Boil until the mixture becomes brittle.
Work the candy
Once cool enough to handle, work the candy over a hook and add your desired flavoring while working.
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.
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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
- White sugar
- Forms the candy's body and sweetness as it crystallises during working.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that limits large sugar crystals, giving a smooth, creamy texture.
The step that matters
Boil until brittle. The amount of water left in the syrup determines whether the candy sets firm or stays soft. Stopping too early leaves it sticky, while boiling too long can make it hard and taste bitter.
“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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