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Dessert

Molasses Cup Cakes

A sweet cake made with molasses, powdered sugar, lard or butter, baking soda, eggs, and water or milk.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Molasses Cup Cakes

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix the powdered sugar and lard or butter until well combined.

  2. Add the molasses and water or milk, and mix until smooth.

  3. Stir in the baking soda.

  4. Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then add them to the mixture last.

Bake

  1. Drop the batter into cups and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.

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 + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and a fine, tender crumb to the cupcakes.
Lard or butter
Provides fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
Molasses
Adds deep sweetness, dark color, and moisture.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses acidity to produce gas that makes the cupcakes rise.
Eggs
Add structure and help bind the batter as it sets.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda and eggs. Baking soda reacts with the acidic molasses right away, so the batter should be baked promptly to keep the gas that gives lift. Eggs add structure, and beating them separately before adding them last helps them mix in evenly without overworking the batter.

“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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