Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Frosted Creams
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare and bake
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix black molasses, brown sugar, lard, water, baking soda, and egg yolks until well combined.
Pour the batter into a cake pan the size of a dripping pan.
Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Finish and serve
Let the cake cool completely before frosting.
Frost the cake with the reserved egg whites and cut into desired sizes.
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.
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Molasses + eggtop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together6,879 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Black molasses
- Adds dark color, moisture and a deep, slightly bitter sweetness to the cake.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay tender.
- Lard
- Provides fat that keeps the crumb tender and moist.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the cake rise.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and fat, and help bind the batter and set the structure.
The step that matters
Let the cake cool completely before frosting. A warm cake releases steam and softens the frosting, so the egg white topping can slide, weep or melt; full cooling keeps the surface stable.
“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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