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 ↓
A Summer Drink
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine brown sugar, molasses, and boiling water in a large pot.
Boil the mixture together.
Skim off any foam.
Add tartaric acid.
Set aside to cool.
Flavor and serve
Stir in essence of sassafras.
Mix a tablespoonful of the drink in a glass of water, filling the glass two-thirds full.
Foam the drink with a little saleratus.
Optionally add checkerberry for extra flavor.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown sugar
- Provides sweetness and the main body of the drink.
- Molasses
- Adds depth and color along with sweetness.
- Tartaric acid
- Supplies acidity that gives the drink its tang and reacts with saleratus to foam.
- Saleratus (baking soda)
- Reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide, creating foam and fizz.
The step that matters
Foaming with saleratus. Saleratus must be added in small amounts to a drink already containing tartaric acid. Its reaction with the acid releases carbon dioxide quickly, so too much at once can cause excessive foaming and overflow, while too little leaves the drink flat.
“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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