Old-fashioned Molasses Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Boil the molasses in a pot until it crackles when dropped in cold water.
Stir in the baking soda just before removing from heat.
Pour the mixture onto plates and let it cool until it is safe to handle.
Finish
Pull the candy until it becomes glossy.
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
What each ingredient does
- New orleans molasses
- Provides the bulk of the candy and its sweet, deep, slightly bitter flavor.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the hot molasses to release gas, creating a light, airy, foamy texture.
The step that matters
Stirring in the baking soda just before removing from heat. Baking soda reacts quickly with the hot, acidic molasses and foams vigorously. If it is added too early the gas escapes before the candy sets, and if the mixture is overheated or stirred too long it can deflate or scorch.
“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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