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Chocolate Caramels

Chocolate caramels made with butter, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, cream, and vanilla sugar.

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 ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Combine butter, chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, cream, and vanilla sugar in a granite saucepan.

  2. Stir over low heat until thoroughly mixed.

  3. Boil slowly until the mixture hardens when a little is dropped in ice water.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into greased shallow pans and let cool.

  2. When nearly cold, dip a sharp knife in olive oil and mark into small squares.

  3. Once completely cool, break apart and wrap in wax paper if desired.

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. Butter + creamtop 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. Molasses + sugartop 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

Butter
Adds fat for a soft, rich texture and smooth mouthfeel.
Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and moisture, and helps the caramel set chewy.
Molasses
Adds deep flavour and moisture, and darkens the caramel.
Grated unsweetened chocolate
Supplies chocolate flavour and colour, and adds fat for richness.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture, giving a softer, creamier bite.

The step that matters

Boil slowly until the mixture hardens in ice water. Sugar concentration determines firmness once cooled. Boiling too briefly leaves caramels sticky and soft, while overcooking makes them hard and brittle. The ice water test checks that the mixture has reached the right stage.

“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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