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 ↓
Butter Scotch
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Combine molasses, brown sugar, and butter in a saucepan.
Add baking soda and boil the mixture until it becomes brittle.
Cool and break
Pour onto a greased surface to cool before breaking into pieces.
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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Molasses + sugartop 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
- Molasses
- Provides dark color, deep caramel-like flavor, and moisture to the candy.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and sugar structure that hardens into a brittle candy as it cooks.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel in the finished candy.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas, lightening the candy's texture.
The step that matters
Boil until brittle. Sugar hardens as water boils off, so the mixture must cook long enough to set brittle. Undercooked candy stays sticky, while overcooked candy turns bitter and can 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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