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Sauce

Molasses Sauce

A sauce made from molasses, butter, lemon juice, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Fannie Merritt Farmer · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Molasses Sauce

Why it works: Butter and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Molasses Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil molasses and butter for five minutes.

  2. Remove from fire and add lemon juice.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

175Calories
1 gProtein
12 gFat
19 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Vinegar1 tbsp (15ml) distilled3

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

By Fannie Merritt Farmer. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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 + lemontop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,227 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Lemon + vinegartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,334 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  3. Butter + vinegartop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  4. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,123 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

Molasses
Provides the main sweetness and dark, rich flavour of the sauce.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rounded mouthfeel in the sauce.
Lemon juice
Adds acidity that brightens the sweet molasses flavour.
Vinegar
Adds sharpness that balances the sweetness of the molasses.

The step that matters

Adding lemon juice off the heat. Acid added after boiling keeps the sauce bright and stops it from being overcooked. Removing it from the fire first prevents the sauce from scorching while the acid is stirred in.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Figfits better
  2. Currantfits better
  3. Strawberryfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

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