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Molasses Candy

Molasses candy is a hard candy made from molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, butter, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Molasses Candy

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. Combine molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and melted butter in a saucepan.

  2. Boil the mixture without stirring for about 25 minutes, until it hardens when dropped into cold water.

  3. Add baking soda and stir just enough to mix.

  4. Pour immediately into shallow, well-buttered tins and let it harden.

Optional pulling

  1. Optionally, pull the candy by dipping your hands in ice water or melted butter during the process.

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. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 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 dark color, rich flavor, and sweetness that define the candy.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the mixture set into a firm candy when boiled.
Vinegar
Adds a small amount of acidity that works with the baking soda in the candy.
Baking soda
Reacts with the hot syrup to release gas, making the candy light and porous.
Butter
Adds richness and a smooth texture to the finished candy.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda. Stir only enough to mix. The baking soda reacts quickly with the hot syrup and releases gas, so pour the candy into the tins immediately before the bubbles subside and the candy loses its lightness.

“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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