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 ↓
Molasses Candy
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
Combine the sugar, molasses, water, cream of tartar, and butter in a saucepan.
Cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
Continue to cook without stirring until the mixture reaches the soft ball stage (about 240°F or 115°C).
Finish and set
Remove from heat and let it cool slightly before beating until it thickens.
Pour into a greased pan and let it set before cutting into pieces.
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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Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yellow coffee sugar
- Provides the main sweetness and bulk that sets into the candy's firm body.
- Molasses
- Adds deep flavor and color, and keeps the candy moist and chewy.
- Cream of tartar
- Acid that helps prevent sugar crystals from forming, keeping the candy smooth.
- Butter
- Adds richness and softens the texture of the finished candy.
The step that matters
Cooking without stirring to soft ball stage. Stirring after the sugar dissolves can encourage crystals to form, making the candy grainy. Reaching the soft ball stage sets the firmness, so the mixture must be cooked to the right temperature.
“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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