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Dessert

Fig Fudge

A sweet fudge made with sugar, milk, and figs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and fig are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,026 recipes. Both carry methyl 2-methylbutyrate, which smells fruity, apple. The science ↓

Fig Fudge

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar and milk.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.

  3. Continue cooking until the mixture reaches the fudge stage.

  4. Remove from heat and stir in the figs (or other optional ingredients).

  5. Pour into a greased pan and let cool before cutting.

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. Milk + figtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,026 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  2. Sugar + figtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,241 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together77,875 recipes

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

Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides the sweetness and, as it cooks, forms the firm crystalline body of the fudge.
Rich milk
Supplies fat and milk solids that give the fudge a creamy, soft texture.
Figs
Add fruity sweetness and chewy bits that contrast with the smooth fudge.

The step that matters

Cooking to the fudge stage. Sugar must reach the correct temperature to set properly. Undercooking leaves the fudge soft and runny, while overcooking makes it hard and grainy as sugar recrystallises.

Swap the fig

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figthe original
  3. Peachfits about as well
  4. Raisinfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk. 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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