Discover the deep, dark sweetness of molasses

Take molasses out of its traditional role to impart complex flavor to savories as well as to sweets.

MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS

Honey’s yummy, but molasses’ rich, bittersweet essence has a darker, more potent allure. Although a far cry from molasses staples of baked beans and brown bread, today’s molasses-rich recipes rely on the same flavor- and moisture-enhancing qualities that have made the ingredient a mainstay for generations. Molasses puts the chew in cookies, the soul in shoofly pie, the fudgy moistness in gingerbread.

Molasses (and its kindred sweeteners such as sorghum syrup and pomegranate molasses) now is used in savory recipes: sauces and braises for meats, marinades for vegetable salads, cures for fish and glazes for poultry.

“Molasses not only adds a raw, earthy sweetness to dishes, but complexity, acid and intensity,” said Jordan Kahn, pastry chef at XIV, Michael Mina’s new Los Angeles outpost.

Chef Darren Carbone uses molasses to accentuate the deep caramel flavors of the rum he uses to create a cure for smoked marlin at Alma de Cuba restaurant in Philadelphia.

And Chef Heather Terhune’s apple cider and molasses braised pulled pork sandwich at Chicago’s Atwood Cafe oozes sweet, salty, tangy molasses sauce with every bite.

Unlike pure refined cane sugar, which tastes simply sweet, molasses is mildly acidic and includes vitamins, minerals and trace elements that convey a much broader variety of flavors.

This gives molasses the backbone to stand up to strong spices such as cloves, allspice, ginger and mustard, as well as complementary sauce and marinade ingredients including coffee and rum.

Figuring out what type of molasses to use in a recipe is a matter of taste. A byproduct of the sugarmaking process, true cane molasses is what drips out when boiled sugar cane juice is spun to separate the sugar crystals from the juice.

Variety

There are three grades. The highest grade, light molasses, is from the first boil and spin. Medium or dark molasses comes out of the second processing and is a bit less sweet. Blackstrap, the potent syrup from the third extraction, has the highest mineral and vitamin content of the three, but is the least sweet.

Most cookie recipes with molasses call for a small amount of the light or medium grade in combination with brown or white sugar. Brown sugar, which is actually white sugar recoated with molasses, brings with it more molasses flavor. But if your taste buds desire even greater intensity, it’s OK to substitute dark molasses for light in a recipe.

Sorghum syrup, which has a taste somewhere between maple syrup and molasses, also can be used in place of molasses for a somewhat lighter flavor.

Pomegranate molasses, however, should never be used as a direct substitute for “true” molasses. Made in Middle Eastern countries from various combinations of reduced pomegranate juice, sugar-beet molasses, sugar, lime juice and sometimes wood ash, the very tart and tarrish reduction is much more potently flavored than cane molasses and must be thinned with another liquid before use.

On the upside, the tart acidic quality of pomegranate molasses makes it a natural tenderizer.

“In Dubai, they rub it all over lamb and goat as a marinade,” said Carrie Nahabedian, chef at Naha in Chicago, who has experimented with pomegranate molasses as a glaze for duck breast.

Chef Todd Fuller uses pomegranate molasses in both the brine and glaze for the grilled pomegranate pork chop he serves at Tangerine, an Eastern Mediterranean restaurant in Philadelphia.

“If used carefully and balanced with another acid — in his case, apple cider vinegar — the tart, tannic flavor of pomegranate molasses can be a nice surprise in a dish,” Fuller said.

Make your own

Rather than use store-bought pomegranate molasses, chef Hoss Zare of Zare at Flytrap restaurant in San Francisco suggested that ambitious home cooks follow his lead and make their own.

“You will find that the smell of pomegranate juice cooking down is absolutely intoxicating!” promised Zare.

Zare uses the syrup to glaze oven-baked veal meatballs, scented with tarragon and topped with pistachios. He likes the dish so much that it was part of the Persian New Year menu he served last week at the James Beard House in New York. Zare also makes a grape molasses, reducing freshly squeezed grape juice with sugar and mint.

Chef Mindy Segal is in molasses mode for dessert. “I have a tendency to go in phases with tastes I like,” said Segal, owner of Mindy’s Hot Chocolate Restaurant and Dessert Bar in Chicago. “Right now, I’m really enjoying the combination of fresh ginger and molasses.”

Segal illustrated the point with her newest napoleon: First she “painted” a plate with a molasses, wine and spice reduction, then alternated layers of crisp rectangles of gingersnap-brioche puff pastry with molasses-and wine-basted pears. White chocolate-ginger cream was piped over it.

Taken together, the result was darkly rich and spicy without being overly sweet: molasses in a nutshell.

Buying molasses

Used to be, molasses was America’s sweetener of choice. Now supermarkets carry precious few molasses choices.

For best consistency in recipes, conventional brands are fine. But if you want to try some regional small-batch-produced molasses, contact Good Food Inc. in Honey Brook, Penn., goldenbarrel.com, 800-327-4406. Bottles of its Golden Barrel brand blackstrap and baking molasses are sold by the pint, quart and gallon, with prices ranging from $1.30 to $9.20.

The magic ingredient

Molasses is the secret flavoring in the following foodstuffs:

• Cracker Jack, created in Chicago by German immigrant Frederick Rueckheim and his brother, Louis, and made famous at the World’s Columbian Exposition in 1893.

• Worcestershire sauce

• A-1 Sauce

• Shoofly pie

• Boston baked beans

• Rum

Scoop on sweet sorghum

In the South, sweet sorghum syrup is still referred to as molasses. It’s not.

Made from sorghum grass instead of sugar cane and processed differently, sweet sorghum syrup nonetheless does have a flavor that’s comparable to light molasses and can be used in recipes that call for molasses.

Sources: Rolling Meadows Sorghum Mill, Elkhart Lake, Wis., and Sandhill Farm, Rutledge, Mo.

BEET SALAD WITH POMEGRANATE-MOLASSES DRESSING

Hoss Zare grew up watching his mother make grape and pomegranate molasses in Lebanon. He has kept the tradition alive preparing these recipes at his namesake restaurant, Zare at the Flytrap in San Francisco. You will have extra pomegranate molasses and dressing left; store in refrigerator.

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 11‚Ñ2 hours

Makes: 8 servings

3 each, large: red beets, golden beets

pomegranate molasses

1 cup pomegranate or grape juice

1‚Ñ2 cup each: sugar, fresh-squeezed lime juice

Dressing:

1‚Ñ4 cup each: lemon juice, freshly chopped mint

1‚Ñ2 tablespoon freshly chopped oregano

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon each: cumin, salt

Freshly ground pepper

1‚Ñ2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:

2 heads watercress, torn into bite-size pieces

1‚Ñ2 cup mint leaves, torn into bite-size pieces

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Wrap each beet in a double layer of foil; roast in oven until tender, 1-11‚Ñ2 hours. Unwrap beets; let cool.

Meanwhile, for the molasses, place the pomegranate juice, sugar and lime juice in a medium-size saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until mixture reaches a syrup consistency, 15-20 minutes.

For dressing, whisk together 1‚Ñ4 cup of the pomegranate molasses, the lemon juice, mint, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper to taste in a small bowl; slowly add oil in a stream, whisking until emulsified. Set aside.

Slip off beet skins. Slice into 1‚Ñ4-inch thick rounds; put each color in a separate bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of dressing to each bowl; toss to coat. Divide watercress and mint leaves among 8 salad plates; spoon beets over them.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 247 calories, 48 percent of calories from fat, 14 g fat, 2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 31 g carbohydrates, 3 g protein, 261 mg sodium, 4 g fiber.

APPLE CIDER-MOLASSES BRAISED PULLED PORK

Chef Heather Terhune’s sweet and salty pulled pork sandwich makes the most of molasses’ winning relationship with pork. Serve on crusty bread with a side of your favorite coleslaw.

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 3 hours, 30 minutes

Makes: 6 servings

1 boneless fresh pork shoulder (3-4 pounds)

2 cloves garlic, cut into slivers

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground pepper

2 teaspoons canola oil

6 yellow onions, halved lengthwise, sliced

2 cups apple cider

1 cup molasses

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Make slits all over the pork with a small sharp knife; insert a garlic sliver in each slit. Season with 1‚Ñ4 teaspoon of the salt and pepper to taste. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over high heat; brown meat on all sides, turning occasionally, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to a plate.

Add onions to the Dutch oven; cook, stirring often, until softened and starting to turn golden, about 5 minutes. Add remaining 3‚Ñ4 teaspoon of the salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are golden and caramelized, 8-10 minutes. Stir in apple cider and molasses.

Return pork to Dutch oven; cover pan with a tight-fitting lid. Place in oven; cook until pork is very tender, turning pork once, 21‚Ñ2-3 hours. Transfer pork to a serving dish. Boil the cooking juices with the onions until mixture is reduced to about 2 cups, about 10 minutes. Season to taste. Meanwhile, shred pork, if you like, using two forks.

Nutrition information

Per serving: 614 calories, 27 percent of calories from fat, 18 g fat, 6 g saturated fat, 146 mg cholesterol, 60 g carbohydrates, 51 g protein, 521 mg sodium, 2 g fiber.

GINGERSNAP COOKIES

Chef Jim Hoveke says these gingersnap cookies fly off the plate when he makes them for special occasions at Ben Pao in Chicago.

Prep: 30 minutes

Chill: 2 hours

Cook: 14 minutes per batch

Makes: 60 cookies

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, room temperature

1 cup each: packed brown sugar, granulated sugar

1‚Ñ3 cup molasses

2 eggs

23‚Ñ4 cups flour

11‚Ñ2 teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon each: cinnamon, ground ginger

1‚Ñ4 teaspoon each: ground red pepper, ground cloves, salt

Heat oven to 300 degrees. Cream the butter, brown sugar, 1‚Ñ2 cup of the granulated sugar and molasses in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs until smooth; set aside. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, red pepper, cloves and salt in a medium bowl; beat into the butter-molasses mixture until smooth.

Divide dough into six portions; roll each portion into 1-inch-wide cylinders. Chill cylinders 2 hours. Pour remaining 1‚Ñ2 cup granulated sugar in a shallow dish. Cut each cylinder into Ω-inch thick slices; dip both sides of cookies in the sugar. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake until firm, 10-12 minutes; cool on wire racks.

Nutrition information

Per cookie: 68 calories, 23 percent of calories from fat, 2 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 11 mg cholesterol, 13 g carbohydrates, 1 g protein, 45 mg sodium, 0 g fiber.

CHARLIE AYERS’ MOLASSES STEAK SAUCE

Use this sauce from chef Charlie Ayers, author of “Food 2.0: Secrets from the Chef Who Fed Google,” to brush steaks or other meats while cooking. Serve the remainder at the table.

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Makes: 3‚Ñ4 cup

4 raisins

Zest from 1‚Ñ2 small orange

1 small anchovy fillet, minced

2‚Ñ3 cup very strong black coffee

1‚Ñ3 cup butter

1 tablespoon fresh-squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons each: blackstrap or other molasses, Worcestershire sauce

11‚Ñ2 teaspoons dried mustard powder

1 to 2 dashes hot red pepper sauce or to taste

1‚Ñ2 teaspoon each: salt, freshly ground pepper

1‚Ñ8 teaspoon ground cloves

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan; heat to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer; cook until thickened slightly and raisins are soft, about 30 minutes. Let cool. Pour mixture into blender; puree.

Nutrition information

Per tablespoon: 53 calories, 86 percent of calories from fat, 5 g fat, 3 g saturated fat, 14 mg cholesterol, 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g protein, 120 mg sodium, 0 g fiber.