Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Soft Ginger Cake
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Make the batter
In a saucepan, mix molasses and butter, then bring to a boil.
Allow the mixture to cool, then add the ginger and baking soda.
Stir in the remaining ingredients until well combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into muffin pans.
Bake for 20 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
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.
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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + buttermilktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + gingertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Molasses
- Provides the dark color, rich sweetness and moisture that define the cake.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and richness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses and buttermilk to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets.
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the cake as it bakes.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity that activates the baking soda and tenderizes the crumb.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda after cooling. Baking soda reacts quickly with the acidic molasses. Adding it to a hot mixture can cause it to lose its lifting power too early, so the mixture should cool first, as the record directs.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, butter, egg, flour, buttermilk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, butter, egg, flour, buttermilk. 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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