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Dessert

Soft Chocolate Caramels

Soft chocolate caramels are made by boiling sweet cream with butter, adding vanilla, and setting in a pan until firm.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Johnson, Vt. Congregational church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Soft Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Melt 1/4 pint sweet cream with 1/4 pound butter together.

  2. Boil for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  3. When done, add 1 teaspoonful vanilla.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into buttered pans until 14 inch thick.

  2. When cold, cut into squares.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

369Calories
2 gProtein
26 gFat
30 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Chocolate1 oz (28g) semisweet155
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12

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

By Johnson, Vt. Congregational 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. Vanilla + chocolatetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

  3. Vanilla + sugartop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  4. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

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

Vanilla and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it cooks, helps set the caramel into a firm, chewy texture.
Sweet cream
Adds moisture and richness, giving the caramel a soft, smooth body.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the caramel smooth and tender rather than brittle.
Grated chocolate
Contributes chocolate flavor and fat, deepening the color and taste of the caramel.
Vanilla
Adds aroma that rounds out the sweet, dairy and chocolate flavors.

The step that matters

Boil for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Sugar and cream must cook long enough to reach the right concentration. Too little boiling leaves the caramel soft and sticky, while too much makes it hard. Stirring keeps the mixture even and prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan.

“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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