Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Soft Ginger Bread
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.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, and shortening until well combined.
Add the sour milk or buttermilk and eggs, and mix until smooth.
In a separate bowl, combine the ginger, cinnamon, baking soda, and flour.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, stirring until just combined.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the soft crumb together as the batter sets.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk or buttermilk and molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and moisture to the finished crumb.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and the dark color and flavor typical of gingerbread.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries the spice flavors.
- Sour milk or buttermilk
- Adds acidity that activates the baking soda and keeps the crumb moist and tender.
The step that matters
Stirring the flour in gently. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to form. Stirring only until combined keeps the gluten weak, so the bread stays soft rather than tough and dense.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, milk, egg, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, milk, egg, cinnamon, 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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