Why it works: Molasses and sugar 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 ↓
Butter Scotch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Combine molasses, sugar, and butter in a saucepan.
Boil while stirring constantly until it snaps when chilled in ice water, about 15 minutes.
Pour into a buttered pan.
Shape and wrap
When partly cool, mark into desired shapes.
Once cold, cut and wrap each piece in waxed paper.
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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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Molasses + buttertop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 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 dark color, deep flavor, and chewy body of the candy.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and, as it dissolves and cooks, helps set the candy firm when cooled.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a smooth texture that softens the brittle bite.
The step that matters
Boiling until it snaps. Sugar syrup sets according to its final temperature, which is driven by how long it boils. Stop too early and the candy stays sticky; cook too long and it turns bitter or brittle. The ice-water test checks that the syrup has reached the hard-crack stage before pouring.
“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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