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Chocolate CxRAMELS

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Chocolate CxRAMELS

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar, molasses, milk, and butter.

  2. Boil over medium heat until the mixture thickens and will stiffen in water.

  3. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chocolate until melted.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into flat buttered pans to a thickness of ½ inch.

  2. Allow to cool, then 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 + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Milk + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,128 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  5. Butter + chocolatetop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,543 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, as it cooks, the firm body of the caramel.
New orleans molasses
Adds deep flavor and moisture, and helps the caramel stay soft and chewy.
Milk
Adds creaminess and milk solids that contribute to the caramel's flavor and smooth texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and rich flavor.
Baker's chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and fat, giving the caramel its color and richness.

The step that matters

Boil until the mixture thickens and will stiffen in water. Caramel sets by cooking off water and concentrating sugar. Stopping too early leaves it soft and sticky; cooking too long 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.

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