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Dessert

Fig Candy

Candied figs are figs coated in a sugar syrup that turns amber.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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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 ↓

Fig Candy

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Combine sugar, water, and cream of tartar in a saucepan.

  2. Do not stir while boiling.

  3. Boil until the mixture turns amber in color.

  4. Stir in the cream of tartar just before removing from heat.

Prepare and coat the figs

  1. Wash the figs.

  2. Open the figs.

  3. Lay the figs in a tin pan.

  4. Pour the candy mixture over the figs.

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 + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

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

  3. Cream + figtop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together523 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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 caramelizes, the amber color and deep flavor of the candy.
Cream of tartar
Adds acidity that helps keep the sugar syrup smooth rather than grainy.
Figs
Supply the soft fruit texture and flavor that the candy coats.

The step that matters

Do not stir while boiling. Stirring a boiling sugar syrup can seed sugar crystals, making the candy grainy. Watch the color closely, since amber sugar can turn bitter and burnt quickly once it darkens.

Swap the fig

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Strawberryfits better
  3. Raspberryfits better
  4. Figthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream. 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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