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Dessert

Creamy Caramels

A sweet treat made by melting brown sugar, chocolate, and milk, then adding butter, vanilla, and cooling into squares.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Creamy Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Combine brown sugar, chocolate, and milk in a glazed saucepan.

  2. Place the saucepan on the back of the stove and let the chocolate and sugar melt, stirring occasionally.

  3. Once melted, move the saucepan to the front of the stove and add the butter.

  4. Boil the mixture rapidly for 15 minutes, or until it coats the spoon evenly.

  5. Remove from heat, add vanilla, and beat for a few minutes until it starts to thicken.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into greased shallow pans and, when cool, cut into squares.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  3. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Provides the sweetness and caramel flavor as it cooks down.
Chocolate
Adds chocolate flavor and richness to the candy.
Milk
Supplies liquid and milk solids that give the candy a creamy texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and flavor.

The step that matters

Boiling for 15 minutes. Boiling the mixture long enough lets enough water evaporate and the sugar reach the right concentration. Too little boiling leaves the candy soft and sticky, while too much makes it hard. Judging by the spoon test helps you hit the right 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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