Name: Molasses Crumb Cakelets
Ingredients: molasses; safflower oil; canola oil; baking soda; sugar; sea salt; water; bleached all-purpose flour

Rose Levy Beranbaum

Molasses Crumb Cakelets

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium
Makes
Forty-six to forty-eight
1¾ inch cakelets

Appears in

The Baking Bible

By Rose Levy Beranbaum

Published 2014

About

Oven Temperature 350°F/175°C

Baking Time 8 to 10 minutes

I discovered these incredibly moist and flavorful little cakes when invited to dinner by Elliott’s and my close friends the Meneguses at the Hampton Winds restaurant at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. I was thrilled to discover that they contain no eggs, making them the only cakes in my repertoire suitable for vegans (however, they are especially flavorful reheated and spread with a little butter). This recipe is the creation of chef Meghan Singer, who is a teacher in the well respected culinary arts program at the college.

Ingredients

Crumb Topping and Molasses Batter

	VOLUME	WEIGHT
bleached all-purpose flour	2¼ cups (sifted into the cup and leveled off) plus ½ tablespoon	9.2 ounces	260 grams
sugar	1 cup	7 ounces	200 grams
fine sea salt	½ teaspoon	.	3 grams
canola or safflower oil, at room temperature	½ cup (118 ml)	3.8 ounces	108 grams
molasses, preferably Grandma’s light	½ cup (118 ml), cup lightly coated with cooking spray	5.7 ounces	161 grams
boiling water	1 cup (237 ml)	8.4 ounces	237 grams
baking soda	½ teaspoon	.	2.7 grams

Special Equipment

Four 12 cup mini muffin pans (1½ inches at the base), coated with baking spray with flour

Method

Preheat the Oven

Twenty minutes or longer before baking, set an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F/175°C.

Make the Crumb Topping

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the flat beater, mix the flour, sugar, salt, and oil on low speed until crumbly, about 15 seconds. Lightly spoon ½ cup/2.8 ounces/80 grams of the mixture into a medium bowl to reserve for the crumb topping. With your fingertips, crumble the mixture into small particles.

Make the Batter

Add the molasses, water, and baking soda to the remaining crumb mixture and mix on low speed for 1 minute. Scrape the batter into a 4 cup glass measure.

Pour or spoon the batter (0.6 ounce/17 grams) into each of the prepared muffin cups. The cups will be about three-quarters full. Sprinkle a few pinches of the reserved crumbs on top of each cakelet.

Bake the Cakelets

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the cakelets spring back when pressed lightly in their centers with a fingertip.

Cool and Unmold the Cakelets

Let the cakelets cool in the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes. Run a small metal spatula between the sides of the cups and the cakelets, pressing the blade against the cups, and invert the cakelets onto wire racks that have been lightly coated with nonstick cooking spray. To prevent splitting, reinvert the cakelets so that their tops are up. Cool completely.

Store

Airtight: room temperature, 7 days; refrigerated, 14 days; frozen, 2 months.