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Chocolate Caramels
2 cups molasses 1 cup brown sugar 1 cup cream or milk 1/4 pound unsweetened chocolate 4 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Put all ingredients into kettle. Boil until it hardens in cold water; add vanilla and turn into large flat greased tins. When nearly cold, cut into small squares.
A molasses caramel with chocolate in it, written for a cook who knew the cold-water test by feel. The only real decision the recipe leaves to you is how far to boil it, and that decides everything.
- The hinge: how far to boil"Boil until it hardens in cold water" is the old firm-ball to hard-ball range, roughly 245-255F on a thermometer. Nearer 245F you get a caramel that stays chewy at room temperature; past 260F it turns brittle and shatters rather than cuts. Test by dropping a little into a cup of cold water and pressing it: it should form a ball that holds its shape but still yields to a squeeze.
- KettleA heavy-bottomed saucepan of at least 4 quarts. Molasses and dairy foam up considerably as the mixture boils, and this batch will climb well above its starting level.
- ScorchingMolasses, brown sugar and milk together burn easily and the chocolate hides the smell until it is too late. Stir more or less constantly with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, keeping the corners of the pan clear, and use moderate rather than high heat once the mixture thickens.
- Unsweetened chocolateA quarter pound is 4 ounces, which is four squares of the traditional baking-chocolate bar. Unsweetened, not bittersweet -- the sugar and molasses are already carrying the whole sweetness of the batch.
- Cream or milkEither works, but cream gives a softer caramel. Whole milk is the better choice of the two milks.
- Vanilla off the heatAdding it at the end, as the recipe says, is deliberate. Vanilla extract is alcohol-based and its aroma is volatile, so much of it would boil off if it went in earlier.
- Tins and pan size"Large flat greased tins" means a shallow pan lined or well buttered. This quantity fills a 9x13-inch pan to about half an inch, which is the right depth for squares; an 8-inch square pan gives thick, awkward blocks.
- Cutting and yieldCut when the slab is set but still slightly warm -- fully cold molasses caramel drags and tears at the knife. A buttered chef's knife or a bench scraper pressed straight down works better than sawing.
- StorageWrap each square in wax paper or parchment. Left in a heap they weld together within a day, and molasses candies pull moisture from the air readily in a humid kitchen.
Caramels of this kind belong to the American molasses-candy tradition that runs from taffy pulls through to the wrapped commercial caramel, and chocolate seems to join that line in the nineteenth century, as unsweetened baking chocolate became widely sold in pressed cakes and squares. Candy recipes of this period taught the cold-water test rather than a temperature, reliable thermometers being far from universal in home kitchens. The reliance on molasses rather than all cane sugar is itself a period marker -- it was the cheaper sweetener, and it gives these caramels a darker, faintly bitter edge.