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Dessert

Sierra Nevada Ginger Bread

A moist gingerbread loaf made with molasses, butter, and buttermilk, baked with egg yolks and egg whites, optionally studded with raisins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Sierra Nevada Ginger Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a saucepan, bring molasses, brown sugar, butter, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt to a boil.

  2. When nearly at the candying point, stir in baking soda and set aside to cool.

  3. Once cool, add buttermilk, beaten egg yolks, and flour; mix well.

  4. Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) until done.

  2. For a special touch, add raisins before baking.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,324 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,973 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

Molasses
Provides dark color, moisture and a deep, slightly bitter sweetness typical of gingerbread.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses and buttermilk to release gas, lightening the crumb and helping it rise.
Buttermilk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tenderness and moisture to the batter.
Egg whites
Beaten stiff, they trap air that expands in the oven, giving a light, risen structure.
Egg yolks
Add richness, fat and emulsifying power, and help bind the batter for a tender crumb.
Flour
Forms the gluten and starch structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stirring instead of folding knocks out the air trapped in the whites, so the cake rises less and turns dense. Fold gently, just until no white streaks remain.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, buttermilk, egg):

  1. Allspicefits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, buttermilk, egg. 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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