Why it works: Milk and butter 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 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a mixing bowl, combine the egg, sugar, molasses, sour milk, and melted butter.
In another bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, and ginger.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until smooth.
Bake
Pour the batter into a biscuit pan or muffin pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as the cake sets in the oven.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a rich, slightly bitter sweetness.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter and tenderize the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk and molasses to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Flour
- Forms the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness, richness, and a softer texture.
The step that matters
Mixing the dry ingredients into the wet. Adding the dry ingredients gradually and mixing only until smooth keeps the batter from overdeveloping gluten, which would make the cake tough, while still distributing the baking soda evenly for an even rise.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, molasses, milk, butter, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, molasses, milk, butter, 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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