Name: Candy Caramels
Ingredients: 1 pint cream; 1 pound sugar; 1 cup butter; ¼ cup chocolate; 1 cup molasses

Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Candy Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 240°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the caramel

Combine the cream, sugar, butter, chocolate, and molasses in a large saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture reaches a soft ball stage (about 240°F or 115°C).

Cool and cut

Remove from heat and pour into a greased pan to cool.
Once cooled, cut into squares and wrap in wax paper.

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.

Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,466 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream: Adds richness and a soft, smooth body to the finished caramel.
Sugar: Provides sweetness and, as it cooks, forms the structure that sets the caramel firm.
Butter: Adds fat for a smooth, tender bite and a rich mouthfeel.
Molasses: Adds deep flavor and moisture, and helps keep the caramel soft.
Chocolate: Adds chocolate flavor and a darker color to the caramel.

The step that matters

Cooking to the soft ball stage. Stopping at the soft ball stage, about 240°F, controls how firm the caramel sets. As water evaporates, the sugar concentration rises, so cooking too long makes it hard. Stirring constantly prevents the mixture from scorching on the bottom of the pan.

“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.