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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A sweet confection made by boiling chocolate, sugar, molasses, milk, and butter until thick, then cooling in a pan.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine chocolate, sugar, molasses, milk, and butter.

  2. Boil the mixture for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

  3. Once thickened, pour into a greased pan and let cool.

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. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Chocolate + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Chocolate + buttertop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,543 recipes

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

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Chocolate
Provides the chocolate flavour and dark colour of the caramel.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it cooks, helps the mixture set into a firm, chewy texture.
Molasses
Adds depth, moisture and a darker, slightly bitter sweetness.
Milk
Adds creaminess and moisture, softening the texture of the caramel.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender bite and a rich mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Boil for the full time, stirring occasionally. Caramel sets as water evaporates and sugar concentrates. Stopping early leaves it too soft to hold its shape, while overcooking makes it hard. Stirring occasionally prevents scorching on the bottom of the pot.

“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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