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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A chewy candy made from sugar, molasses, butter, cream, and chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Combine sugar, molasses, butter, cream, and chocolate in an enameled saucepan.

  2. Boil the mixture, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes.

  3. To test, drop a small amount into cold water; if it forms a ball, it's done.

Set and cut

  1. Remove from heat and pour into well-buttered tins.

  2. Once cool enough, mark 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. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Molasses + syruptop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together272 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 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
Provides sweetness and, when boiled, the firm structure of the caramel.
Molasses
Adds deep flavor and moisture, and helps the caramel stay soft and chewy.
Butter
Adds richness and fat, giving the caramel a smooth, tender texture.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and milk solids that make the caramel creamy rather than brittle.
Unsweetened chocolate
Provides chocolate flavor and color, with some fat that adds smoothness.

The step that matters

Boil while stirring constantly. Sugar mixtures can scorch on the bottom of the pan or crystallize if not stirred. Constant stirring keeps heat even and the sugar dissolved, which keeps the caramel smooth.

“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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