IllustrationWhy it works: Cinnamon and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and 6,380 recipes mention both. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk, wheat (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Mix the batter
Put in a pan one cup molasses, one cup brown sugar, and one cup melted butter.
Add a dessert spoonful soda and stir until dissolved and foamy.
Add one cup sour milk in which a dessert spoonful soda has been dissolved and stir until the whole mixture is foamy.
Add two beaten eggs, a teaspoonful grated nutmeg, a dessert spoonful of cinnamon, a tablespoonful ginger, and three cups of flour. Stir until well blended.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven.
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. See the original page.
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Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Butter + milktop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together81,222 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Nutmeg + gingertop 3% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,777 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar and cinnamon share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely 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 strong sweet flavor to the cake.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake stay tender.
- Melted butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Soda
- Reacts with the sour milk to produce gas that lightens the batter as it rises.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the soda, and it adds moisture to the batter.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it sets.
The step that matters
Dissolving and foaming the soda. Soda must react with the acidic sour milk to release gas for rise. If the soda is not fully dissolved or the batter sits too long before baking, the cake may be dense or uneven.
“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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