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Dessert

Ginger Crackers

A sweet cracker made with butter, brown sugar, flour, black molasses, ginger, cloves, cinnamon, soda, and warm water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson." · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 16 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Ginger Crackers

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Combine one-half pound butter, one-half pound brown sugar, one and one-half pounds flour, one pint black molasses, 75 spoonful ginger, one teaspoon cloves, one spoonful cinnamon, and one spoonful soda dissolved in warm water.

  2. Mix until the dough is soft.

Roll and bake

  1. Roll the dough out as thin as possible.

  2. Bake quickly.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

900Calories
28 gProtein
26 gFat
137 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Clove1 tsp ground (2g)7
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Cakenot in our table0

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

By Gibson, Marietta Fauntleroy Hollyday, "Mrs. C. H. Gibson.". 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 + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  4. Ginger + corntop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together412 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 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

Flour
Provides the structure that holds the dough together and sets as the crackers bake.
Butter
Adds fat that makes the crackers tender and crisp rather than tough.
Black molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture and deep brown color to the dough.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crackers brown as they bake.
Ginger
Supplies the warm, spicy aroma and flavor that defines the crackers.

The step that matters

Bake quickly. Rolled very thin, the dough dries and browns within minutes. A short bake keeps the crackers crisp and prevents them from scorching or turning bitter.

Swap the clove

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Nutmegfits about as well
  4. Clovethe original

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