Why it works: Ginger and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,324 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Molasses Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Make the batter
In a bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar together.
Add the eggs, molasses, ginger, nutmeg, and salt; mix well.
Dissolve the baking soda in the milk and add to the mixture.
Gradually stir in the flour until well combined.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake
Bake for one hour until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
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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Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 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).
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
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and carries flavour.
- Eggs
- Provide structure and help bind the batter as it sets.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, dark colour and a rich, slightly bitter sweetness.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses' acidity to produce gas that lifts the cake.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in the milk. Baking soda must be fully dissolved and evenly mixed so it reacts with the molasses' acid throughout the batter. Unevenly distributed soda can leave bitter, soapy patches and uneven rising.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, molasses, nutmeg, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, molasses, nutmeg, milk, flour. 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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