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Dessert

Butter Scotch

A sweet confection made from butter, brown sugar, molasses, vinegar, water, granulated sugar, milk, and walnuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Butter Scotch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine two cups brown sugar, one-half cup butter, four tablespoons molasses, two tablespoons vinegar, and two tablespoons water.

  2. Boil fifteen minutes. Pour into pan.

Cook the scotch

  1. Combine two and one-half cups granulated sugar, one-half cup milk, and butter the size of a walnut.

  2. Mix and boil, stirring all the time.

  3. When it will make a soft ball when dropped in cold water, take from stove.

  4. Stir in a cup of walnuts.

Set and cut

  1. As soon as it begins to look a little thick or creamy, pour on buttered plates.

  2. When it has set, mark off in squares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

387Calories
9 gProtein
22 gFat
40 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

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. See the original page.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Butter + walnuttop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,832 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

  5. Milk + walnuttop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,236 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Provides sweetness, moisture and the deep caramel flavour of the candy.
Granulated sugar
Provides sweetness and forms the crystal structure that sets the candy firm.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender bite.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the texture as the mixture cooks.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark colour and a rich, slightly bitter flavour.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that helps prevent the sugar from crystallising too coarsely.

The step that matters

Cooking to the soft-ball stage. Sugar syrup firms as its temperature rises. Removing it too early leaves the candy soft and runny, while cooking it too long makes it hard and brittle. Stirring keeps the sugar from scorching and crystallising.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, vinegar, milk, molasses):

  1. Almondfits about as well
  2. Peanutfits about as well
  3. Walnutthe original
  4. Beansfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, vinegar, milk, molasses. 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.

More butter scotch recipes

Pie 26Candy 12brittle 4Filling 3Squares 3 See all 152 →

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