Name: Molasses Cake Without Eggs
Ingredients: 1 cup molasses; 3 tablespoons melted butter; 1 teaspoon soda; 2 teacups sifted flour

Why it works: Molasses and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 10,318 recipes mention both. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

The recipe

Ingredients

Contains: milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

1 cup molasses
3 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon soda
2 teacups sifted flour

Directions

Make the batter

Combine 1 cup molasses, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 2 cups buttermilk, and 1 teaspoon soda.
Stir in 2 teacups sifted flour.

Bake and finish

Bake in loaf or layers.
Frost the cake.

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [from old catalog]. 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. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

Molasses + flourtop 9% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together10,318 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + flourtop 6% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together122,858 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + buttertop 20% of all pairs

Aroma overlaplow

Mentioned together8,123 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Molasses and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 10,318 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses: Adds sweetness, dark flavour and moisture, and gives the acid that activates the soda.
Butter: Adds richness and moisture, giving the crumb a tender texture.
Buttermilk (in the method): Adds moisture and acidity, which reacts with the soda to help the cake rise.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic molasses and buttermilk to release gas that lifts the batter.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it sets.

“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.