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Dessert

Cream Chocolate Caramels

A sweet candy made from sugar, molasses, thick cream, butter, and chocolate.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Cream Chocolate Caramels

Ingredients

Directions

Make the caramel

  1. In a granite-ware saucepan, mix sugar, molasses, thick cream, butter, and chocolate.

  2. Place on the fire and stir until the mixture boils.

  3. Stir frequently while boiling and place in a very cold place to harden.

  4. Cook until a few drops harden when dropped into ice water.

Set and cut

  1. Pour into well-buttered pans, about 3 inches deep.

  2. When nearly cold, mark into 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. Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + chocolatetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,466 recipes

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

  5. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Provides sweetness and, when boiled, the firm structure that sets the caramel.
Molasses
Adds depth, colour and a chewy texture through its sugars and moisture.
Thick cream
Adds fat and moisture, producing a softer, smoother chew.
Butter
Contributes fat for richness and a tender, smooth texture.
Chocolate
Adds cocoa flavour and fat, giving the caramel its chocolate character.

The step that matters

Cooking to the hard-drop test. Caramel sets firm as it cools, so the sugar must reach the right concentration. Cook until a few drops harden in ice water; undercooking leaves it soft and sticky, overcooking makes it brittle.

“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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