Why it works: Sugar and molasses 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 ↓
Brownies
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make and bake
In a bowl, mix the egg, flour, nuts, butter, sugar, and molasses until well combined.
Pour the mixture into small, fancy-shaped tins.
Press half a nut into the top of each cake.
Bake until set, about 20-25 minutes.
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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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,180 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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 helps set the cakes as they bake.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cakes together as they set.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavor.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cakes brown as they bake.
- Dark molasses
- Adds moisture, deep sweetness and a dark color to the cakes.
- Nuts
- Add crunch and a toasty flavor to the cakes.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Baking only until the cakes are set keeps them moist, since further baking dries out the crumb and can make them dense. Check at the low end of the time range.
Swap the nuts
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, flour, butter, sugar, molasses):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Walnutfits about as well
- Nutsthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, flour, butter, sugar, molasses. 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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