Skip to main content
Dessert

Molasses Candy

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

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

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

Make the candy

  1. Dissolve the sugar in the vinegar.

  2. Mix the sugar-vinegar mixture with the molasses and boil, stirring frequently, until it hardens when tested in cold water.

  3. Stir in the butter and baking soda (dissolved in a little hot water).

  4. Give one hard final stir and pour onto buttered dishes.

Shape and cut

  1. Work with buttered hands to pull into long sticks and place on dishes.

  2. Once cold, it can be easily cut.

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. Vinegar + sugartop 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
Forms the bulk of the candy and gives it its dark color and rich flavor.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, when boiled with the molasses, helps the candy set firm as it cools.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic vinegar to release gas, lightening the candy's texture.
Vinegar
Acidifies the mixture, helping to dissolve the sugar and softening the final texture.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother, less brittle texture and keeps the candy from sticking.

The step that matters

Boiling until it hardens in cold water. Sugar candy sets according to how far its water has boiled off. Stopping too early leaves a soft, sticky candy, while boiling too long makes it brittle or scorched. Testing a small drop in cold water shows when it is ready.

“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.

More molasses candy recipes

Peanut 4 See all 242 →

You might also like

Molasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipesMolasses CakeMolasses Cake90 recipesMolasses Sponge CakeMolasses Sponge Cake9 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipes