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 ↓
Molasses Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
In a saucepan, combine sugar, molasses, and vinegar.
Boil for about 20 minutes, or until it hardens in cold water.
Stir in the dry soda.
Set and shape
Pour the mixture into buttered tins.
Once cool, pull the candy and cut it into sticks.
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).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, once boiled, the firm structure that lets the candy set.
- Molasses
- Adds deep flavor and color, and its sugars help the candy harden as it cooks.
- Vinegar
- Adds a little acidity that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing into grainy candy.
- Dry soda
- Reacts with the acid to release gas, lightening the candy's texture and color.
The step that matters
Boiling until it hardens in cold water. Stopping too early leaves the candy soft and sticky, while cooking too long makes it brittle. The cold-water test shows when the sugar has reached the hard-crack stage needed for a firm set.
“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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