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Molasses Sauce

A simple sauce made from molasses, salt, water, vinegar, butter, and cinnamon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Molasses Sauce

Why it works: Molasses and cinnamon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,928 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Molasses Sauce

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine all ingredients in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Molasses + cinnamontop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + cinnamontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,784 recipes

    Shared aroma: anethole (sweet, anise).

  3. Vinegar + cinnamontop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  4. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 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

Molasses
Provides the main sweetness, deep flavor, and dark color of the sauce.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that balances molasses's sweetness and sharpens the flavor.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, rounder mouthfeel and a glossy finish.
Cinnamon
Adds warm, aromatic spice that complements the molasses.

The step that matters

Stirring constantly over medium heat. Molasses is high in sugar, which can scorch and turn bitter on the bottom of a pan if it sits unstirred. Constant stirring keeps heat even and prevents burning while the sauce thickens.

“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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