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Eureka College Caramels

A chewy caramel candy made with butter, milk, brown sugar, chocolate, molasses, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Eureka College Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Melt the butter in a saucepan.

  2. Add the brown sugar, molasses, and milk, and bring to a boil.

  3. Stir constantly until the chocolate is melted.

  4. Boil until the mixture forms a firm ball when tested in cold water.

Finish and cut

  1. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and pour into a buttered tin.

  2. Cool slightly and cut into 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 + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Provides the main sweetness and, as it cooks, the chewy body of the caramel.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a soft, tender bite.
Milk
Adds moisture and milk solids for a creamy, smooth texture.
Unsweetened chocolate
Adds deep chocolate flavour, dark colour and extra fat.
Molasses
Adds moisture, a deeper flavour and a darker colour.

The step that matters

Boil until a firm ball forms in cold water. Caramel texture depends on how much water has boiled off, which concentrates the sugar. Stopping too early leaves the caramel soft and sticky, while going too far makes it hard and brittle. The cold-water test shows when the sugar has reached the right concentration.

“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.

More caramels recipes

Chocolate 316Coconut 37Vanilla 22Maple 18Opera 16Cream 13 See all 12 →

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