Name: Colonial Ginger Bread
Ingredients: 1 cup porto rico molasses; 2 cup butter; 2 cup sugar creamed together; 1 cup thick sour milk; 1 teaspoonful each of ginger; 3 cups of flour; 2 eggs

Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Colonial Ginger Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

Put together 1 cup Porto Rico molasses, 1/2 cup butter, 1/2 cup sugar creamed together, 2 eggs, 1 cup thick sour milk, 1 teaspoonful each of ginger and cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful soda sifted with 3 cups flour; beat.

Bake and serve

Bake in a loaf.
Serve warm.
Garnish with whipped cream.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

893Calories

27 gProtein

26 gFat

136 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 7 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
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.

By North End Club (Chicago, Ill.). 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. See the original page.

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,116 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 sweetness, moisture, dark colour and the deep flavour typical of gingerbread.
Butter: Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
Eggs: Add structure and help bind the batter as it sets.
Sour milk: Its acidity reacts with the soda to help the bread rise and keeps it moist.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the loaf together as it bakes.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.

Swap the ginger

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

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Gingerthe original
Allspicefits about as well

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