Skip to main content
Dessert

Molasses Orange Cake

A moist cake made with molasses, orange juice, pulp, rind, and butter.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Molasses Orange Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Mix the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the butter, molasses, orange juice, shredded pulp, grated rind, and beaten egg.

  2. Sift the pastry flour with salt and baking powder.

  3. Add the flour mixture alternately with the cold water to the wet ingredients.

  4. Beat well and pour into a shallow pan.

Bake

  1. Bake in the preheated oven 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 + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Molasses + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together493 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl isobutyrate (fruity, ethereal).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they 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

Pastry flour
Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture with a deep, rich flavor.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise and become light.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and a rich mouthfeel.
Orange
Contributes acidity, aroma, and moisture from its juice, pulp, and rind.

The step that matters

Add the flour mixture alternately with the cold water. Adding flour and liquid in alternating portions keeps the batter smooth and evenly hydrated. Overmixing once flour is in develops gluten, which can toughen the cake, so mix only until combined.

Swap the orange

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

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, molasses, egg. 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.

You might also like

Orange Bundt CakeOrange Bundt Cake349 recipesOrange Cream Rice PuddingOrange Cream Rice Pudding121 recipesOrange GelatinOrange Gelatin100 recipesMolasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipes