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Dessert

Molasses Cake

A moist cake made with molasses, butter, milk, eggs, flour, baking soda, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Molasses Cake

Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Molasses Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Dissolve the baking soda in warm water.

  2. In a large bowl, mix together the butter, milk, eggs, and molasses.

  3. Add the dissolved baking soda, ground ginger, ground cloves, sifted flour, and cream of tartar.

  4. Beat the mixture well until smooth.

Bake

  1. Line cake pans with greased paper and pour in the batter, filling no more than 1 inch deep.

  2. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 20 to 30 minutes.

  3. Test for doneness with a broom whisk.

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.

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.

  1. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

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

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

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

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, 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

Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses and cream of tartar to lift the batter as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for tender crumb and rich flavor.
Molasses
Provides sweetness, dark color, and moisture.
Sifted flour
Forms the main structure of the cake as the batter sets.
Milk
Adds moisture and helps the batter blend into a smooth mixture.

The step that matters

Filling the pans no more than 1 inch deep. A shallow layer of batter lets heat reach the center evenly, so the cake bakes through without the middle staying raw while the edges over-brown. Deeper batter needs more time and can sink or set unevenly.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Cardamomfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

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