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Dessert

Soft Molasses Cake

A moist cake made with sour cream, molasses, cloves, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and clove are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,483 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Soft Molasses Cake

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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a mixing bowl, combine sour cream, molasses, ground cloves, baking soda, and salt.

  2. Gradually add flour until the mixture forms a thin batter.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.

  2. Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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. Molasses + clovetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,483 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Clove + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,671 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Cream + molassestop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,408 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Cream + flourtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Sour cream
Adds moisture and tang, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda to lift the cake.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, deep color, and moisture to the batter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour cream and molasses to release gas, helping the cake rise.
Flour
Provides the structure that sets as the cake bakes.

The step that matters

Gradually adding the flour. Adding flour gradually and stopping at a thin batter keeps the mixture smooth and prevents lumps. Overmixing once flour is in can develop gluten and make the cake tough.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Jalapenofits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Cinnamonfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, molasses, flour. 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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