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 ↓
Butter Scotch
Ingredients
Directions
In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, molasses, and butter.
Boil the mixture until it reaches a crisp stage.
Pour the mixture onto buttered tins and mark into squares.
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 + 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
- Brown sugar
- Provides sweetness and a caramel-like flavor, and sugar concentration sets the final texture.
- New orleans molasses
- Adds deep flavor and dark color, and contributes sweetness and moisture to the candy.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smoother, less brittle bite.
The step that matters
Boiling to a crisp stage. As water evaporates, the sugar concentration rises, and at the right point the cooled candy sets hard and brittle. Stopping too early leaves it sticky, while boiling too long can scorch the sugars and taste bitter.
“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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