Why it works: Molasses and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,123 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Molasses Candy
Ingredients
Directions
Cook the molasses
Heat molasses in a saucepan until it boils.
Remove from heat and stir in butter and baking soda.
Pull and cut
Pull the mixture rapidly to prevent it from hardening too much.
Cut the candy with scissors for a smooth finish.
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 + 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 the dark sweetness, flavor and body of the candy.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a softer, less brittle bite.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the hot molasses to release gas, lightening the texture as it sets.
The step that matters
Pull the mixture rapidly. As the candy cools it stiffens and sets. Pulling it while still pliable works air into it and gives a light, chewy texture. If it hardens first, it becomes too stiff to pull well.
“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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