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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A sweet confection made from sugar, milk, chocolate, molasses, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 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. Mix a half cup of grated chocolate and one cup of milk together until perfectly smooth.

  2. Put one cup of molasses and three cups of brown sugar in a greased pan on the stove, stir for twenty minutes (test by dropping a little into a glass of water – if it hardens it is done).

  3. Add the chocolate‑milk mixture and a piece of butter the size of a walnut to the pan.

  4. Boil for fifteen minutes more, stirring all the time.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into buttered tins.

  2. When cool, mark with a knife.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

539Calories
10 gProtein
31 gFat
57 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26

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

By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog]. 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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  2. Chocolate + walnuttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,548 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-ethyl-2,5-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and the bulk of the caramel's chewy body as it cooks.
Molasses
Adds depth, color and moisture, and contributes to the caramel's chewy texture.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that give the caramel a softer, creamier texture.
Chocolate
Adds flavor and richness, and its fat helps make the caramel smooth.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and helps keep the caramel from sticking.

The step that matters

Cooking the caramel to the right stage. Caramel sets according to how far its sugar concentration has risen as water boils off. Undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, while overcooking makes it hard and brittle. The water-glass test helps show when it has reached the right firmness.

Swap the walnut

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

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

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