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Awnna’s Chocolate Caramels

A caramel candy made from chocolate, brown sugar, molasses, cream, butter, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Awnna’s Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 240°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the caramel

  1. Melt the chocolate in a saucepan.

  2. Add brown sugar, molasses, cream, butter, and vanilla.

  3. Stir the mixture over low heat until it reaches a soft ball stage (about 240°F or 115°C).

Set and cut

  1. Pour into a greased pan and let it cool.

  2. Cut into squares once set.

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

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

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

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

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

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

  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

Chocolate
Adds deep chocolate flavor and color to the caramel.
Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and the bulk of the caramel's structure as it cooks and sets.
Molasses
Adds moisture, a deeper flavor, and a softer, chewier texture.
Cream
Adds moisture and fat, giving the caramel a smooth, creamy texture.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the caramel smooth and keeps it from being brittle.

The step that matters

Stirring to the soft ball stage. Sugar concentration determines how firm the caramel becomes as it cools. Stopping short leaves it too soft and sticky, while going too far makes it hard and brittle. Low heat and constant stirring help prevent scorching and sugar crystals.

“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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