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Dessert

Old-fashioned Butterscotch

A caramelized sugar candy made with butter, molasses, water, and vinegar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Old-fashioned Butterscotch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. Combine brown sugar, butter, molasses, water, and vinegar in a porcelain-lined kettle.

  2. Stir over heat until the sugar dissolves.

  3. Boil without stirring until it hardens when dropped in cold water.

Cool and cut

  1. Pour into shallow buttered pans to cool.

  2. When firm, cut into squares.

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.

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  3. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

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

Brown sugar
Provides the main sweetness and the caramel-like flavor, and forms the candy's body as it sets.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the candy a smoother, less brittle bite.
Molasses
Adds deep flavor and color, and some moisture that keeps the candy from being dry.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing into grainy texture.

The step that matters

Boil without stirring until it hardens in cold water. Stirring during the boil can trigger sugar crystals, leaving the candy grainy. The final texture depends on how far the syrup is cooked, so the cold-water test is how you judge when it is ready.

“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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