apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time


What's the Deal with Blackstrap Molasses?

2008_12_2-BlackStrapMolasses.jpgAs the star ingredient in cookies, cakes, and other holiday baking, molasses really gets its heyday this time of year! But not all kinds can be used interchangeably, particularly blackstrap molasses...

 
 

Molasses is the dark, sticky syrup left behind after the sugar has been boiled out of cane and beet juices. This is done in several stages, which yield light, dark, and eventually blackstrap molasses as all the sugar is gradually extracted and the syrup is cooked down.

Blackstrap molasses has almost no remaining sucrose and is therefore intensely bitter. On the plus side, blackstrap molasses is high in nutrients like calcium and iron, and has long been used by the health food industry as a nutritional additive. Even before that, a tablespoon of straight blackstrap molasses was a cure-all for an upset stomach and a general system cleanser!

Use blackstrap molasses in your cooking with caution. While light and dark molasses can be used fairly interchangeably, blackstrap molasses can overpower your baking with off-putting flavors. Until you're familiar with it, look for recipes that specifically call for blackstrap molasses. Try this recipe for bittersweet granola!

We actually prefer blackstrap molasses in savory dishes, like baked beans and pulled pork. In these recipes, the smoky qualities of the molasses really come out and its bitterness is balanced by sweet flavors in the dish itself.

Does anyone have any experience with blackstrap molasses or suggestions for cooking with it?

Related: Food Science: How Sugar Cooks

(Image: Badagnani via Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons)

Tags

Baking Products, Health, Sweets, Ingredients - Pantry, Food Science, sugar, blackstrap molasses, molasses

Related Links

Share

Comments (9)

Once i put blackstrap Molases in my gingerbread cookie recipe, and it came out tasting like tar! but i can't find a lighter molasses anywhere!

posted by SydneyBristow on December 2nd 2008 at 3:19pm
view SydneyBristow's profile

I actually used blackstrap molasses in several pecan pies this Thanksgiving. I wasn't a huge fan of the end result, but my grandparents raved about it. My grandmother called to tell me that they were still enjoying the pie a few days later.

I came to the assumption that molasses must be an acquired taste. While it did make the pie much richer, it just wasn't a flavor that I particularly care for.

Here's the recipe I used-- I was supposed to use sorghum molasses but I couldn't find it anywhere so I substituted molasses instead. I would suggest adding more brown sugar than the recipe calls for. And make sure you bake it long enough (until the center rises), otherwise the filling will be runny.
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2007/07/cook_the_book_sorghum_pecan_pi.html

posted by Torrie on December 2nd 2008 at 3:31pm
view Torrie's profile

My grandmother raised my mom to believe that pumpkin pie MUST be made with a tablespoon of blackstrap molasses added to the standard back-of-the-can recipe. Now that my grandmother is no longer able to bake, and given that my entire family expects the pie to taste a certain way, it is a given that I'm supposed to add it every year. It's our one tradition!

posted by laurainboston on December 2nd 2008 at 3:38pm
view laurainboston's profile

I used to eat Grandma's Molasses by the spoonful when I was a kid and I prefer it in place of syrup on pancakes and waffles. I don't know if it was blackstrap molasses or not...but it was super yummy!

posted by Kerstin on December 2nd 2008 at 4:13pm
view Kerstin's profile

I used to be anemic and my doctor told me blackstrap is a good iron source. I choked down a few spoon fulls every day until I happened to read the label of my husband's Frosted Mini Wheats box - one serving of that has about 75% of the RDA for iron, whereas BS molasses has something like 5%. Guess which one I chose to eat instead?

posted by Squirrely on December 2nd 2008 at 4:25pm
view Squirrely's profile

I just used some this past Thanksgiving when making a sweet potato pie, instead of Rum. I'm not sure why I thought molasses would replace rum exactly, but I hate alcohol flavors in my baking, and I ended up loving the molasses. It had a richer, more complex taste, I think, because of it.

posted by slou on December 2nd 2008 at 4:54pm
view slou's profile

I have a bottle of regular molasses - can it be substituted for dark caro syrup? (I'm trying to empty the pantry before we move.)

posted by EmmieB on December 2nd 2008 at 8:32pm
view EmmieB's profile

I love blackstrap molasses, but only when stirred into a cup of hot water or milk. I find that it kind of overpowers anything else I put it in.

posted by crazykj on December 2nd 2008 at 8:38pm
view crazykj's profile

I've never used any kind of molasses other than backstrap. I love it's flavour though, so it's okay with me. It never occurred to me that a recipe that called for molasses might not actually mean blackstrap. Huh.

posted by seidhr on December 3rd 2008 at 8:53pm
view seidhr's profile