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 ↓
Pop Corn Balls
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine molasses, water, and sugar in a saucepan.
Boil the mixture until it hardens in cold water.
Coat the corn
Remove from heat and pour over the popped corn. Stir until well mixed.
Shape and serve
Roll the mixture into balls.
Alternatively, pour into a square tin to cool.
Cut the cooled mixture into squares.
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 + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Molasses + corntop 26% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together644 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 deep sweetness and flavour, and its sugars help the coating set firm as it cools.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the coating and, when boiled, forms a syrup that hardens into a binding glaze.
- Popped corn
- Forms the bulk of the snack, giving the hardened syrup a surface to cling to and bind it together.
The step that matters
Boiling the syrup until it hardens in cold water. Boiling drives off water and concentrates the sugars. If it is removed too early, the coating stays soft and sticky and the balls will not hold their shape. If it is boiled too long, it can turn brittle and crack.
“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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