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Dessert

Candy Caramels

Candy Caramels are sweet confections made from cream, sugar, butter, chocolate, and molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Candy Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 240°F in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the candy

  1. In a saucepan, combine the cream, sugar, butter, chocolate, and molasses.

  2. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (about 240°F or 115°C).

Set and serve

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased pan and let it cool.

  2. Once cooled, cut into squares and serve.

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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream
Adds fat and richness, giving the candy a soft, creamy texture.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it cooks, forms the firm structure of the candy.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and rich flavor.
Molasses
Adds depth of flavor and color, and contributes to the chewy texture.

The step that matters

Cooking to the soft ball stage. Sugar candy sets according to how much water has boiled off. Stopping at the soft ball stage, around 240°F, gives the right firmness once cooled. Stirring constantly prevents scorching on the bottom of the pan.

“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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