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
Combine molasses, brown sugar, and butter in a six-quart kettle.
Boil over low heat, stirring often, until thick.
Test by dropping a few drops into cold water; it should harden quickly.
Stir in baking soda and mix well.
Shape and finish
Pour into well-buttered flat tins.
When partly cooled, butter your hands and pull the candy until it turns a whitish yellow.
Cut into strips and roll or twist as desired.
If using flavoring, add it on top as it cools.
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.
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 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
- West india molasses
- Provides the main body, dark color, and deep sweet flavor of the candy.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the candy set firm as it cooks down.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother texture and helps keep the pulled candy from sticking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the hot syrup to lighten the color and make the pulled candy airy.
The step that matters
Testing the cold-water stage. Candy keeps cooking after it leaves the heat, and sugar syrup hardens sharply as its water content drops. Checking by dropping a little into cold water shows when it is thick enough to set, so the cook can stop before it turns brittle or too hard to pull.
“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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