Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
Old-fashioned Molasses Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Combine one quart of best New Orleans molasses with a piece of butter half the size of a hen's egg.
Heat until it will snap in water, indicating it is sufficiently done.
Stir in a little soda to whiten it.
Pour into buttered dishes.
Finish
When cool enough, pull until it turns white.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Molasses + eggtop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,879 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Forms the body of the candy and gives it its dark color and rich sweetness.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the texture and keeps the candy from sticking to the dish.
The step that matters
Heating until it snaps in water. Sugar candy sets by the concentration of sugar reached during cooking. Heating too little leaves it soft and sticky, while heating too far makes it brittle and hard to pull. The cold-water snap test shows when the target stage is reached.
“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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