Name: Double-Ginger Sour Cream and Bundt Cake with Ginger-Infused Strawberries
Yield: Makes 12 to 14 servings
Ingredients: Softened butter (for brushing pan); 1/2 cup raw sugar*; 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour; 4 teaspoons ground ginger; 2 teaspoons baking powder; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature; 2 cups sugar; 4 large eggs; 1 large egg yolk; 2 teaspoons vanilla extract; 1 cup sour cream; 1 cup chopped crystallized ginger; 1 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, very thinly sliced; 2/3 cup water; 1/2 cup sugar; 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice; 2 quarts fresh strawberries, hulled, halved (about 8 cups); Sliced fresh mint leaves (optional)

Why it works: Ginger and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,154 recipes. Both carry beta-phellandrene, which smells minty, terpene. The science ↓

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.

Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, flour, egg, vanilla, cream, lemon):

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Tarragonfits better
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, flour, egg, vanilla, cream, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Strawberry	1 cup (152g)	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Peppermint	not in our table	0

Double-Ginger Sour Cream and Bundt Cake with Ginger-Infused Strawberries