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Dessert

Molasses Candy

A sweet treat made by boiling molasses, sugar, vinegar, butter, and hot water until firm, then cooled and cut into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar 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 ↓

Molasses Candy

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. Combine molasses, white sugar, vinegar, butter, and hot water in a saucepan.

  2. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.

  3. Continue boiling until the mixture reaches a firm ball stage when tested in cold water.

  4. Remove from heat and stir until creamy.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into a buttered pan and let cool.

  2. Once cool, 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. Molasses + sugartop 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. Vinegar + buttertop 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

Molasses
Provides the main flavor and dark color, and adds sweetness and moisture to the candy.
White sugar
Adds sweetness and, when boiled, helps the candy set firm as it cools.
Vinegar
Adds a little acidity that helps prevent sugar from crystallizing too coarsely.
Butter
Adds richness and softens the texture of the finished candy.

The step that matters

Continue boiling until a firm ball stage. Sugar syrup sets according to its final temperature, which concentrates as water boils off. Stopping too early leaves the candy soft and sticky; boiling too long makes it hard and brittle.

“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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