Skip to main content
Dessert

Caramel Filling

A sweet caramel filling made from brown and white sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Caramel Filling

Why it works: Vanilla and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Caramel Filling

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, white sugar, milk, and salt.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage when tested in cold water.

  3. Just before removing from heat, stir in vanilla and butter.

  4. Beat the mixture until it cools enough to spread.

  5. If the mixture is too thick, add a few drops of milk and beat until the right consistency is achieved.

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.

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. Vanilla + milktop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  4. Vanilla + buttertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Brown sugar
Adds moisture and molasses flavour, giving the filling its caramel taste and softness.
White sugar
Provides sweetness and, when cooked, sets the filling's structure as it reaches soft ball stage.
Milk
Dissolves the sugars and adds moisture, so the mixture can be cooked into a creamy filling.
Butter
Adds fat for smoothness and richness, helping the filling stay tender and spreadable.

The step that matters

Cooking to the soft ball stage. Sugar syrup must reach the correct temperature to set into a soft, spreadable filling. Stirring constantly prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan, which would give a bitter flavour.

“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

Vanilla Ice CreamVanilla Ice Cream108 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipesPound CakePound Cake373 recipesOrange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipes