Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Butter Scotch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, water, butter, and baking soda.
Cook over medium heat until the mixture begins to harden when dripped from a spoon.
Pour the mixture into a buttered pan.
Cool and release
As it cools, mark it off in squares with a knife.
Once cold, turn the pan upside down and tap it to release the candy.
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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,050 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 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 the caramel flavour of the candy.
- Butter
- Adds fat and richness, giving the candy a smoother bite.
- Baking soda
- Lightens the set candy slightly and helps it brown as it cooks.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can cook evenly before thickening.
The step that matters
Cook until the mixture begins to harden when dripped from a spoon. Sugar syrup hardens as its temperature rises and water boils off. Stopping too early leaves a soft, sticky candy, while cooking too long makes it brittle or burnt.
“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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