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Dessert

Molasses Candy

Molasses candy is a sweet made from molasses, sugar, vinegar, butter, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and sugar 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

Cook the candy

  1. Combine molasses, sugar, vinegar, and butter in a saucepan.

  2. Cook over medium heat until it reaches a soft ball stage.

  3. Remove from heat and add baking soda, stirring well.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into a greased pan and let cool before cutting into pieces.

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. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,806 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Vinegar + buttertop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together13,513 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, pear).

  5. Molasses + vinegartop 26% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,253 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

Molasses
Adds sweetness, deep flavor, and moisture to the candy.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and sets to a firm texture as the mixture cools.
Vinegar
Adds acidity that helps prevent sugar crystals from forming and reacts with the baking soda.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, richer texture and softer bite.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid to release gas, lightening the candy's texture.

The step that matters

Cooking to the soft ball stage. The final sugar concentration depends on how long the mixture cooks. Stopping early leaves the candy too soft and sticky, while going too far makes it hard and brittle.

“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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