Why it works: Molasses and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,123 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
To Make Molasses Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the molasses
Boil the molasses in a deep vessel to prevent it from boiling over.
Pour, cool and finish
When thick, pour it into buttered pans to a depth of half an inch.
Allow it to cool.
Optionally, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda to improve texture.
Pull the candy for a longer time to enhance the color.
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 + 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
- West india molasses
- Provides the main sweetness and dark color, and sets the candy's flavor and firmness as it thickens.
- Butter
- Greases the pans so the candy releases cleanly once it cools.
The step that matters
Judging when the molasses is thick. As molasses boils, water evaporates and the sugar concentrates. Stopping at the right thickness controls how firm the candy sets. Stopping too early leaves it soft and sticky, while cooking too long makes it hard and brittle.
“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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