Name: Molasses Sauce
Ingredients: 1 cup Palmetto molasses; 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 2 tablespoons malt vinegar; 2 tablespoons butter

Why it works: Lemon and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,227 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Molasses Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup Palmetto molasses
2 tablespoons lemon juice or 2 tablespoons malt vinegar
2 tablespoons butter

Directions

Cook the molasses and butter together for 5 minutes.
Remove from heat and add the lemon juice or vinegar.

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.

Lemon + buttertop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,227 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together8,123 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + lemontop 36% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,377 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses: Provides the sweetness and deep, dark flavor of the sauce.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel.
Lemon juice or malt vinegar: Adds acidity that brightens and balances the sweet molasses.