Why it works: Molasses and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,123 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Old-fashioned Molasses Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Combine molasses and butter in a large pot.
Boil the mixture until it snaps in water.
Stir in a pinch of baking soda to lighten the color.
Shape and pull
Pour the candy onto buttered dishes.
Once cool enough to handle, pull the candy until it turns white.
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.
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Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Provides the sugar base and the dark, chewy body of the candy.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the candy and helps it release from the pot and dishes.
- Baking soda
- Lightens the color of the candy when stirred into the hot mixture.
The step that matters
Boil until it snaps in water. As boiling evaporates water, the sugar concentration rises. Stopping at the right point sets the candy firm but not brittle; undercooked candy stays sticky, and overcooked candy turns hard and 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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