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Cocoanut-nut-caramels

A caramel candy made with glucose, molasses, coconut, water, and walnuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Coconut and walnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 606 recipes. Both carry 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine, which smells cocoa, roasted. The science ↓

Cocoanut-nut-caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a kettle, combine glucose, molasses, shredded coconut, and water.

  2. Heat over medium, stirring continuously until a small amount forms a soft ball in cold water.

Shape and cut

  1. Remove from heat and stir in broken walnuts and enough shredded coconut to absorb the mixture.

  2. Roll out the mixture to the thickness of caramels.

  3. Once cooled, cut into squares and place on edge to display the nuts.

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. Coconut + walnuttop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together606 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3,5-trimethylpyrazine (cocoa, roasted).

  2. Molasses + walnuttop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together560 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Molasses + coconuttop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together96 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
Adds sweetness and body while helping keep the caramel smooth and resistant to crystallizing.
Molasses
Adds deep flavor, color, and moisture that keeps the caramel chewy.
Shredded coconut
Adds texture and absorbs liquid so the mixture can be shaped.
Broken walnuts
Add crunch and nutty flavor that contrast with the chewy caramel.

The step that matters

Cook to a soft ball in cold water. Sugar syrups set firmer as they lose water and get hotter. Stopping at the soft-ball stage, judged by a small amount dropped into cold water, gives a chewy texture. Overcooking makes the caramel hard, while undercooking leaves it too soft to hold its shape. Stir constantly so the mixture does not scorch.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, walnut):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Datesfits about as well
  4. Coconutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, walnut. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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