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Dessert

Molasses Cocoanut Cakes

A sweet cake made from molasses, butter, and grated coconut, cooked until hard and cut into cubes.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and coconut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,467 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Molasses Cocoanut Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the candy

  1. In a pan over low heat, combine the molasses and butter.

  2. Once it boils, add the grated coconut.

  3. Stir until the mixture reaches the hard ball stage.

  4. Keep the heat very low to prevent burning, as the candy thickens quickly.

Set and cut

  1. Pour the mixture into a greased pan and spread it evenly with a knife.

  2. Allow to cool, then cut into cubes.

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. Butter + coconuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,467 recipes

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

  2. Butter + molassestop 30% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together8,123 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Coconut + molassestop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together96 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides sweetness and a deep, rich flavor while helping the candy set firm.
Butter
Adds fat for a smoother texture and richer mouthfeel in the candy.
Coconut
Adds chewy texture and sweet, nutty flavor to the candy.

The step that matters

Keep the heat very low while stirring. Sugar-rich mixtures like molasses can scorch quickly on direct heat, and once they darken they taste bitter. As the mixture approaches the hard ball stage it thickens fast, so low heat gives you time to control the cooking point.

Swap the coconut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, molasses):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Applefits better
  4. Coconutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, molasses. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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