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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A sweet treat made by boiling molasses, brown sugar, cream or milk, chocolate, and butter, then setting and cutting into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a large bowl, combine molasses, brown sugar, cream or milk, chocolate, and butter.

  2. Mix well and boil the mixture until it thickens.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the thickened mixture into well-buttered large flat tins.

  2. Allow to cool nearly completely, then cut into small squares.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

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

  3. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Adds deep, dark sweetness and a rich flavor that carries the chocolate.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, helping the mixture turn soft and chewy as it cooks.
Cream or milk
Adds fat and dairy solids that soften the texture and make the caramel smooth.
Chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavor and fat that help the caramel set firm yet tender.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, less sticky texture.

The step that matters

Boil until thickened. Sugar syrups set as their water evaporates and their concentration rises. Boiling too briefly leaves the caramel soft and sticky, while boiling too long makes it hard and brittle, so the mixture should be watched closely until it thickens.

“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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