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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A sweet treat made by boiling sugar, water, chocolate, and butter until it hardens.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar, warm water, grated chocolate, and butter.

  2. Bring to a boil without stirring until the mixture snaps in cold water.

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. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

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

Sugar
Forms the caramel base and provides sweetness as it cooks to a firm set.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, soft texture and rich flavour.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavour and colour to the caramel.

The step that matters

Boil without stirring until the mixture snaps in cold water. Stirring can cause sugar to crystallise, making the caramel grainy. Cooking to the hard-crack or firm stage sets the texture, so undercooking leaves caramels soft and overcooking makes them hard.

“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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