Skip to main content
Dessert

Graham Gems

A small cookie made with Graham flour, shortening, molasses, sour milk, soda, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Tea and milk work together. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 738 recipes. Both carry 4-heptenal, which smells creamy, biscuit. The science ↓

Graham Gems

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Combine four small tea-cups of sour milk, three tablespoons of shortening, three tablespoons of molasses, salt, and two teaspoons of soda.

  2. Add Graham flour until the mixture is thick enough to drop from a spoon.

  3. Drop the mixture into two sets of gem pans.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

256Calories
8 gProtein
8 gFat
40 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Sour Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By Des Moines. Plymouth church. [from old catalog]. 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. Tea + milktop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together738 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).

  2. Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Molasses + teatop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together139 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the soda to lift the batter and adds a slight tang.
Soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that makes the gems rise.
Shortening (in the method)
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and gives a softer texture.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color with a rich flavor.
Graham flour (in the method)
Forms the structure of the batter as it thickens and sets in the oven.

The step that matters

Adding the Graham flour. The batter must be thick enough to hold its shape in the pans. Too little flour gives flat, spreading gems, while overmixing develops gluten and makes them tough. Soda starts reacting as soon as the batter is mixed, so drop it into the pans promptly.

“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.

You might also like

Molasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipesMolasses CakeMolasses Cake90 recipesMolasses Sponge CakeMolasses Sponge Cake9 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipes