Why it works: Sugar and molasses 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 ↓
Butter Scotch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
In a saucepan, combine butter, sugar, molasses, and baking soda.
Boil the mixture without stirring until it hardens in water.
Set and cut
Pour into buttered tins.
When nearly cold, cut into squares.
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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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + molassestop 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
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the candy a smooth, rich mouthfeel.
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, once boiled and cooled, sets into a hard, brittle candy.
- Molasses
- Adds deep caramel-like flavor, dark color, and some moisture.
The step that matters
Boil without stirring until it hardens in water. The final texture depends on how far the sugar has been cooked. Stopping too early leaves a soft, sticky candy, while cooking too long can scorch the sugars and taste bitter. Stirring can cause sugar crystals to form, so the mixture is left undisturbed.
“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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