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Dessert

Molasses Cake

A quick rye cake flavored with molasses, ginger, and allspice.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Molasses Cake

Why it works: Ginger and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,620 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Molasses Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Cream the shortening in a bowl.

  2. Add the sugar and molasses, beating well.

  3. Mix in half of the sifted flour, baking powder, spices, and salt.

  4. Add half of the milk and mix well.

  5. Incorporate the remaining flour and milk, mixing until smooth.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into greased individual cake tins.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 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.

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 + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,620 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  4. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  5. Allspice + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,302 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Rye flour
Provides the structure of the cake, with a denser crumb than wheat flour.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark color to the cake.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, helping the cake rise.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.

The step that matters

Mixing in the flour and milk in portions. Adding the flour and milk in halves keeps the batter smooth and well emulsified, so the cake bakes with an even texture instead of becoming dense or lumpy.

Swap the allspice

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (ginger, sugar, molasses, rye, flour, milk):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against ginger, sugar, molasses, rye, flour, milk. 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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