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Dessert

Soft Gingerbread

A moist gingerbread made with flour, milk, sour milk, lard, molasses, butter, ginger, sugar, cinnamon, soda, and eggs.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By United Methodist Church (Grayville, Ill.) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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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 Gingerbread

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

  1. Beat the yolks of eggs and the lard together.

  2. Add milk, soda, and molasses.

  3. Add ginger and flour.

  4. Beat the whites to a stiff froth, then add them carefully.

Finish and bake

  1. Bake in a moderate oven for three-quarters of an hour.

  2. Dissolve soda in hot water.

  3. Stir spices, sugar, butter, and molasses together, keeping the mixture slightly warmed.

  4. Add milk.

  5. Add eggs, beaten very light.

  6. Add soda.

  7. Add flour.

  8. Beat long and well.

  9. Bake in a large buttered pan.

  10. Optionally add raisins or currants.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

912Calories
27 gProtein
27 gFat
138 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Ginger1 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 United Methodist Church (Grayville, 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.

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Flour
Builds the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
Eggs
Add structure and richness, and the whites trap air that helps the cake rise.
Lard
Coats flour particles to give a tender, soft crumb.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark color that browns the crust.
Soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas that makes the cake rise.
Milk
Adds moisture and hydrates the flour so the batter can set.

The step that matters

Folding in the stiffly beaten egg whites. The whites hold air bubbles that give lift. Adding them carefully keeps those bubbles intact, while overmixing deflates them and leaves a dense, heavy cake.

Swap the ginger

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Allspicefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

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