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Dessert

Washington Cake

A two-batter cake with a molasses dark batter and a light batter folded in.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Washington 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.

Make the dark batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks with 1 cup sugar until light.

  3. Add 1 cup molasses, 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup milk, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon baking soda, and 1 cup mixed fruit. Mix well.

Make the light batter

  1. In another bowl, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.

  2. Gradually add 2 cups sugar and continue to beat until stiff peaks form.

  3. In a separate bowl, combine 1 cup softened butter, 1 cup milk, 4 cups flour, 1 teaspoon cream of tartar, and ½ teaspoon baking soda. Mix until smooth.

  4. Fold the egg whites into the butter mixture.

Combine and bake

  1. Combine the mixture with the dark batter.

  2. Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.

  3. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean, about 30-40 minutes.

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 + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 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

Eggs
Whites whipped to stiff peaks give the light batter lift and an airy crumb.
Molasses
Adds dark color, moisture and a deep, slightly bitter sweetness to the dark batter.
All-purpose flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the cake its structure.
Butter
Adds richness, tenderness and flavor to both batters.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses and cream of tartar to help the cake rise and brown.
Cream of tartar
Stabilizes the whipped egg whites and adds acidity that helps the leavening work.

The step that matters

Folding the egg whites into the butter mixture. Overmixing or deflating the whipped whites knocks out the air that gives the light batter its rise, so fold gently until just combined.

“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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