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 the sugar, water, molasses, butter, and baking soda.
Boil the mixture until it reaches a hard candy stage when tested in cold water.
Finish and cut
Remove from heat and let it cool slightly.
Once cool enough to handle, pull the candy and cut it into small pieces.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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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
- Sugar
- Forms the sweet, brittle structure of the candy as it hardens.
- Molasses
- Adds deep flavour and colour, and makes the candy chewier than plain sugar.
- Baking soda
- Lightens the candy's texture by releasing gas as it reacts with the hot syrup.
- Butter
- Adds richness and softens the texture of the finished candy.
The step that matters
Boiling to the hard candy stage. Sugar syrup must reach the right temperature to set firm after cooling. Stopping early leaves a sticky candy, while overcooking makes it bitter and hard to cut.
“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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