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Dessert

Chocolate Caramels

A chewy caramel made with brown sugar, butter, molasses, flour, chocolate, cream, and vanilla.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,020 recipes. Both carry sotolon, which smells curry, maple. The science ↓

Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. Boil the molasses, butter, brown sugar, and flour for 15 minutes.

  2. Stir the grated chocolate into the cream.

  3. Pour the boiling syrup into the chocolate-cream mixture.

  4. Continue boiling until done.

  5. Test by dropping a little into cold water; if it hardens, it's done.

  6. Add the vanilla before pouring onto buttered pans.

Cool and cut

  1. As it cools, crease it into small squares.

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. Chocolate + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,020 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Brown sugar
Provides sweetness and body, and helps the caramel set firm as it cooks.
Molasses
Adds deep flavour and moisture, and helps the caramel stay soft and chewy.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, tender texture and rich flavour.
Grated chocolate
Adds chocolate flavour and richness to the caramel.
Cream or milk
Adds moisture and creaminess, softening the texture of the caramel.
Flour
Thickens the syrup slightly, giving the caramel a firmer body.

The step that matters

Testing for doneness in cold water. Sugar syrup firms as its temperature rises and water evaporates. Cooking too little leaves caramels soft and sticky, while cooking too long makes them hard. A small drop in cold water shows the firmness the syrup will reach as it cools.

“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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