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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A sweet treat made by boiling chocolate, sugar, molasses, milk, and butter until thick, then setting and cutting into squares.

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

Make the caramel

  1. Combine grated chocolate, sugar, molasses, milk, and butter in a saucepan.

  2. Boil the mixture for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into a buttered pan.

  2. When nearly cool, cut into small 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. 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

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it cooks, helps the mixture set into a chewy texture.
Molasses
Adds deep flavor and moisture, and contributes to the caramel's dark color and chewiness.
Milk
Adds creaminess and moisture, softening the texture of the cooked caramel.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and fat, enriching the caramel.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, softer bite.

The step that matters

Boil the mixture for about 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Sugar and milk can scorch or stick to the bottom of the pan if left unstirred. Constant stirring keeps heat even, and the cooking time controls how firm the caramel sets.

“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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