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Chocolate Caramels

Chocolate caramels made with sugar, glucose, cream, chocolate, butter, vanilla, and nuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Cook the caramel

  1. In a saucepan, mix sugar, cream, and butter, and melt together.

  2. Add glucose and chocolate, then melt and boil the mixture.

  3. Test the mixture in cold water; when it forms a firm ball, remove from heat.

Finish and set

  1. Stir in vanilla and beat the mixture until smooth.

  2. Add nuts and pour into a greased pan.

  3. Cut into squares once cool.

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. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

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

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

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

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

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides the sweetness and forms the firm, set body of the caramel as it cooks.
Glucose
Interferes with sugar crystallization, keeping the caramel smooth and chewy rather than grainy.
Cream
Adds moisture and softness, giving the caramel a tender, creamy texture.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a smooth, melting mouthfeel.
Chocolate
Contributes deep flavor, color, and additional fat to the caramel.
Nut meats
Add crunch and a contrasting texture against the chewy caramel.

The step that matters

Testing the firm ball in cold water. Caramel sets by sugar concentration, which depends on how far it has boiled. Removing it too early leaves the caramel soft and sticky, while cooking it too long makes it hard and brittle. Checking the cold-water test helps you stop at the right point.

“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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