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Chocolate Caramels

Chocolate caramels made by boiling chocolate, sugar, molasses, milk or cream, and butter until brittle, then cutting into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Combine grated chocolate, light-brown sugar, molasses, milk or cream, and butter in a saucepan.

  2. Boil the mixture, stirring constantly, until it reaches a nearly brittle stage.

Cut and wrap

  1. Remove from heat and cut into squares.

  2. Wrap each square in tissue paper.

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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and deep color to the caramel.
Light-brown sugar
Provides sweetness and bulk, and helps the caramel set firm as it cooks.
Molasses
Adds depth, moisture and a rich, slightly bitter flavor.
Milk or cream
Adds richness and softness, giving the caramel a creamy texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and a rounded flavor.

The step that matters

Boil until nearly brittle. Sugar syrup changes quickly near the set point. Stirring keeps the mixture from scorching on the bottom, and pulling it off heat at the right stage gives a firm but chewable caramel rather than a hard or grainy one.

“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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