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Dessert

Molasses Kisses

Molasses kisses are a molasses-based candy made by boiling glucose, sugar, sweet cream, and molasses, then adding butter and cooling into bite-sized pieces.

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 ↓

Molasses Kisses

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. In a four-quart pan, combine glucose, sugar, sweet cream, and molasses.

  2. Boil the mixture to the hard ball stage (about 250°F or 121°C).

  3. Add the butter and continue cooking until it reaches the soft crack stage (about 270°F or 132°C).

  4. Pour the mixture into a greased pan.

Shape and wrap

  1. Work and pull the candy like taffy.

  2. When it cools slightly, roll it into a round batch about twelve inches long.

  3. Pull it into a long round stripe the size of a broom handle.

  4. Cut into small pieces with shears and wrap in waxed 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. 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. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cream + molassestop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,408 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

Glucose
Keeps the sugar from crystallizing, giving the candy a smooth, chewy texture.
Sugar
Provides the bulk of the sweetness and sets the structure as the candy cools.
Sweet cream
Adds moisture and fat, softening the candy's texture.
Molasses
Adds deep flavor and color, along with extra moisture and sweetness.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender, rich bite and smoother mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Cooking to the soft crack stage. Cooking to the correct temperature controls how much water boils off, which determines the candy's final firmness. Too little cooking leaves it soft and sticky; too much makes it hard and brittle.

“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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