Name: Colonial Gingerbread
Ingredients: Put together:; 1 cupful Porto Rico molasses; ½ cupful butter (softened); ½ cupful sugar; 2 eggs; 1 cupful thick sour milk; 1 teaspoonful each of ginger and cinnamon; 1-½ teaspoonfuls soda sifted with 3 cupfuls of flour; b

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 ↓

Colonial Gingerbread

Ingredients

Directions

Beat the ingredients.
Bake in loaf pan.
Serve warm.
Garnish with whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

899Calories

28 gProtein

26 gFat

138 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 8 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

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 + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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: Adds dark color, moisture and a deep, sweet flavor to the crumb.
Butter: Adds richness and a tender crumb.
Eggs: Bind the batter and help set the structure as it bakes.
Sour milk: Its acidity reacts with the soda to lift the loaf and keep it moist.
Soda: Reacts with the sour milk's acid to produce gas that makes the loaf rise.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the loaf together.

Swap the ginger

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

Nutmegfits better
Cardamomfits better
Clovefits about as well
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, butter, sugar, egg, milk, 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.