Molasses Crumb Cakelets Rose's Alpha Bakers
Sunday, July 12, 2015 at 3:12PM 
molasses crumb cakelets 'The Baking Bible'
Join me on Facebook
Golden Syrup is treacle, black molasses is a treacle and yes, "treacle" is a umm "treacle'. For today's Molasses cakes I'm using treacle... confused? Lol, sometimes it's like that baking from country to country. Lets look to Wikipedia for 'Treacle is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.'
treacle and golden syrup are acidic and that acidity reacts with the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) in the recipe resulting in your cakes rising.
treacle comes in different grades from a bitter black molasses to the usually charcoal filtered mellower and sweeter tasting golden syrup.
Today's molasses cakelets are the same type of cake that in Australia your Nana baked using recipes left over from "harder times" where you may not have had eggs, butter and the like but always seemed to have a supply of treacle for cakes and puddings. UK chefs still bake up a range of treacle baked treats, including treacle tart (golden syrup with loads of fresh lemon zest) to cocoa rich treacle cakes. Nut and date fruit loaves are still sold in supermarkets in Australia, egg and butter free they are vegan like today's cakes.
I still bake these for my Dad, spiced date fruit loaves made in the distinct round sealed end pipe pans.
And you know who else knew all about treacle? The dormouse of course in Alice in Wonderland speaking of the three girls young girls living in the treacle well----
`What did they live on?' said Alice, who always took a great interest in questions of eating and drinking.
`They lived on treacle,' said the Dormouse
These cute molasses cakelets are quick to make and are perfect for an Alice in Wonderland themed afternoon tea, as part of a high tea or served warm smeared with butter and a strong cuppa on Sunday afternoon. They are quite sweet, so try serving with lemon tea to balance the flavour.
A quick batter to prepare, a sugar, oil, flour mixture has some removed and set aside to become the crumb topping. Treacle was added to remaining mix with bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and boiling water.
Into a jug for easy pouring into prepared mini muffin tins.
Reserved "crumb" mixture tops the cake batter, baked for eight minutes.
Slightly springy (usual for this type of cake) at first bite, gives way to soft and fluffy interior.
Happy Baking :)
Would I bake again? yes, can't have enough quick pantry recipes... bonus they are vegan.
Would I change anything? The sugar crumble, I wouldn't use it every time as it adds more sweetness than I prefer. I would freeze the topping mix to be added to oat fruit crumble topping and dip the tops of the small cakes into dark chocolate instead. Citrus zest and spices could also be added to the cake batter for a change or nut/choc chips/dried fruit would also work.
How it works... now I've joined the fabulous existing alpha bakers, once a month I will post about what I have baked from Rose Levy Beranbaum's 'The Baking Bible'. This won't include the recipe due to copyright and publisher restrictions however, I will be posting how it went and photos of making/baking the gorgeous baked goods.
The Baking Bible
You might also be interested in gingerbread custard icecream.
Reader Comments (10)
What a wonderfully, delightful post! I loved Malted Fruit Bread when I was an au pair in England, lo these many years ago. I never correlated the two together. Can you post the recipe for the bread you made your dad sometime? I just love family recipes. Just a gorgeous picture, by the way.
Thanks for the treacle lesson! I've heard of treacle tart, and have used the word "treacle" to mean sickeningly sweet, but I didn't know it was just a generic word for unrefined sugar. I liked the crunch that the crumbs provided, but maybe nuts would be a better way of getting the additional texture.
Marie I'm with you, I like the crunch the crumbs provide but it nuts would be nice not as sweet. We use golden syrup a lot here, our national biscuit (cookie) the ANZAC is rich in golden syrup.
Vicki, I'm notoriously slow … lol, it's a hard life… but I've put a note on the white board to do a post on the fruit loaves within 30 days or email you the recipe!!! Oh, oh, oh,,,, I have a recipe for the malted fruit bread somewhere too. You used to always buy that at supermarkets/small bakeries here but I haven't seen it in recent years, my mum, nan and I all loved it :)
I wish I'd read your post before I bought molasses. Your cakelets look very sweet and I too am eyeing your tea cup with envy.
My grandmother used to make date and nut loaf. Of course it's only vegan until you slather it with butter, which is the only way to eat it:)
Catherine, my step son's mum, who is also my ex husbands ex bought me the cup and saucer :) a first wives "tea cup loving group" perhaps :)
LOL it is the only way to eat it slathered in butter… my nan told me that… must be right :)
When I started work in a health food stores eon's ago my job was the stir the barrels of treacle that we sold on tap for people making their own beer… they would talk about the grades, sugar production of treacles/molasses for beer making.
oh my, thinking about dipping each cake into dark chocolate is very exciting! what a great idea. i love your teacup. and thanks for letting me know about treacle! ever since i read about treacle tart in Harry Potter i've always wondered twat it was.
Treacle sounds like something from the digestive tract. Just saying. The crumb on your cakes looks beautiful. Actually you whole post is excellent! It's great to see your facility with this type of cake.
Lol Kimberlie thank you and "digestive tract" made me laugh :)
Jen thank you … oh my goodness dark chocolate and treacle is good :) I love all the food references in Harry Potter.
Teacup envy! Thanks for your rigorous and sprightly posts. They always make me feel gently sloppy, which is a very familiar feeling, as I am. And yet somehow I work in meticulous fields (baking, libraries). Hmmm. Treacle was one of the great mysteries of my Anglophile chldhood. That and cold chicken and jelly (and food rationing in general).