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 Drops
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
Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix together the baking molasses, brown sugar, sour milk, and butter or lard until well combined.
Add the baking soda, eggs, ground ginger, and cinnamon, and mix thoroughly.
Gradually add flour until the batter is thick enough to drop from a spoon.
Bake
Drop spoonfuls of the batter onto a greased baking sheet.
Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the edges are firm.
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.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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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).
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
- Baking molasses
- Provides moisture, dark color, and rich sweetness with a deep flavor.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer mouthfeel in the drops.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to help the drops rise.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the sour milk and molasses acid to produce gas for lift.
- Eggs
- Add structure and binding that holds the drops together as they bake.
- Flour
- Provides structure so the batter holds its shape when dropped.
The step that matters
Adding the flour. Flour is added gradually until the batter is thick enough to drop from a spoon. Too little makes spreading, flat drops; too much makes dense, dry cookies. Stop when the batter holds its shape.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, milk, butter, egg, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, milk, butter, 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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