Skip to main content
Dessert

Soft Chocolate Caramels

A chewy confection made from sugar, chocolate, butter, cream, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla 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 the sugar, grated chocolate, butter, and sweet cream together in a saucepan.

  2. Boil for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  3. Remove from heat and add the vanilla.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into buttered pans until ½ inch thick.

  2. Once cooled, mark 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. Chocolate + vanillatop 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. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  5. Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

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

Sugar and vanilla 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, the body and chew of the caramel.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavour and richness, and firms the caramel as it sets.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and a rich mouthfeel.
Sweet cream
Adds moisture and dairy richness, keeping the caramel soft rather than brittle.

The step that matters

Boiling for 25 minutes. Boiling drives off water and cooks the sugar to the right concentration. Too short a boil leaves the caramel soft and sticky, while too long makes it hard and brittle once cooled. Stirring occasionally helps prevent scorching on the bottom of the saucepan.

“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.

You might also like

Chocolate CreamChocolate Cream171 recipesVanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesChocolate CookiesChocolate Cookies76 recipesChocolate FudgeChocolate Fudge55 recipes