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
Combine molasses, sugar, vinegar, and butter in a saucepan.
Boil for 25 minutes, stirring constantly.
Once done, either pull the candy or pour it thin onto pans.
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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Walnut + buttertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,832 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Vinegar + walnuttop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,769 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Molasses
- Supplies most of the body, dark color, and deep flavor, along with sweetness.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and gives the cooked syrup its firm structure as it thickens.
- Vinegar
- Acid that helps keep the sugar from crystallizing, leaving a smoother candy.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a softer bite and a richer flavor.
The step that matters
Boil for 25 minutes, stirring constantly. Constant stirring keeps the sugar from scorching on the bottom of the pan and helps prevent large sugar crystals from forming, which would make the candy grainy.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, vinegar, butter):
- Almondfits better
- Beansfits about as well
- Sesamefits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, vinegar, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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