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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A chewy candy made from chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, milk, butter, and glycerine.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a kettle, combine grated chocolate, molasses, brown sugar, milk, and butter.

  2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then add glycerine and boil rapidly.

  3. Test the mixture by dropping a small amount into cold water; it should form a soft ball when ready.

Set and cut

  1. Once done, pour the mixture into buttered pans.

  2. Allow to cool, then mark into blocks using the back of a knife.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Chocolate + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,543 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Grated chocolate
Provides chocolate flavour and richness to the caramel.
Molasses
Adds dark color, deep flavour, and moisture to the caramel.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the caramel set chewy rather than brittle.
Milk
Adds creaminess and dairy solids that soften the texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and rich mouthfeel.
Glycerine
Helps keep the caramel soft and prevents it from crystallising too hard.

The step that matters

Testing the soft ball stage. Cooking the mixture to the right temperature controls its final texture. If it is undercooked the caramels stay too soft and sticky, and if overcooked they become hard and brittle. A small drop in cold water shows when it has reached the soft ball 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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