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 brown sugar, molasses, and butter.
Boil the mixture rapidly until it reaches a brittle stage.
Pour the candy onto a buttered dish.
Finish
While cooling, mark the candy into squares with a knife.
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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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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
- Brown sugar
- Provides sweetness and dissolves to form the body of the candy.
- Molasses
- Adds deep flavour and colour, and helps the candy set firm and brittle.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a smoother texture and richer flavour.
The step that matters
Boil the mixture rapidly until it reaches a brittle stage. Sugar syrup sets according to how far its water has boiled off. Stopping too early leaves a sticky candy, while boiling too long makes it bitter or burnt, so the mixture must be watched closely.
“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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