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Dessert

Caramels

A sweet confection made from syrup, sugars, chocolate, and cream, set in buttered platters and cut into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Syrup and sugar match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a bowl, mix corn starch with a little cream to form a paste.

  2. Combine syrup, brown sugar, white sugar, grated chocolate, and bottled cream in a pot.

Cook

  1. Cook over medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cool and finish

  1. Pour the mixture into buttered platters to cool.

  2. Once cool, cut into small squares.

  3. Dust with powdered sugar before serving.

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. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

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

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

  4. Chocolate + creamtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

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

  5. Syrup + creamtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,964 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

Syrup
Adds sweetness and body, and keeps the caramel soft and chewy rather than grainy.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and a deeper, molasses-like flavour as it cooks.
White sugar
Provides sweetness and the sugar structure that sets the caramel.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavour and fat that firms the caramel as it cools.
Bottled cream
Adds fat and moisture, giving the caramel a smooth, tender texture.
Corn starch
Thickens the mixture as it heats, helping the caramels hold their shape.

The step that matters

Cooking over medium heat with occasional stirring. Sugar and cream can scorch on the bottom of the pot if heat is too high or stirring is neglected. Scorched sugar tastes bitter and burnt, and the mixture can stick. Steady heat and regular stirring keep the sugars cooking evenly and prevent burning.

“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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