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Molasses Nut Candy

A brittle candy made from molasses, sugar, vinegar, butter, baking powder, and nuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Molasses Nut Candy

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. Boil molasses, sugar, vinegar, and butter until the syrup is brittle when dropped into cold water.

  2. Add baking powder and wait for the frothing to cease.

  3. Stir in the nut meats.

  4. Pour into buttered shallow tins or platters.

Finish

  1. Break the candy into pieces once it is cold.

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

  3. Butter + meattop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,594 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides the bulk of the syrup and its dark color and deep, bittersweet flavor.
Granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the syrup reach the hard, brittle candy stage when cooled.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity that helps keep the cooked sugar from crystallizing too readily.
Baking powder
Releases gas into the hot syrup, creating froth and a lighter, more porous texture.
Nut meats
Add crunch and richness that contrast with the brittle syrup.

The step that matters

Boil until brittle in cold water. Sugar syrup sets hard only at a high enough temperature. Underboiled syrup stays sticky, while overboiled syrup can scorch and taste bitter, so the cold-water test is the cook's guide to the right stop point.

“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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