Name: Sour Cream Gingerbread
Ingredients: one-half cup sugar; three-fourths cup sour cream; one teaspoonful salt; two cups flour into which has been sifted one; one-half teaspoonful soda; a good cup of preserved ginger cut in small pieces; two eggs; one-half eup molasses; one teaspoon- ful cinnamon; salt; cinnamon; ginger

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 ↓

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.

Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Sugar + molassestop 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: Provides the main structure that holds the cakes together as they set in the oven.
Eggs: Bind the batter and help set its structure while it bakes.
Sour cream: Adds moisture and tenderness, and its acidity reacts with the soda.
Baking soda: Releases gas when it meets the sour cream's acid, lifting the batter.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep color and flavor to the cakes.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps keep the cakes moist and tender.

The step that matters

Sifting the soda into the flour. Soda must be spread evenly through the flour so it meets the sour cream's acid throughout the batter. Unevenly distributed soda causes dense spots or bitter patches, and the gas it produces is what lifts the cakes.

Swap the ginger

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

Nutmegfits better
Cardamomfits about as well
Allspicefits about as well
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream, flour, egg, molasses, cinnamon. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Sour Cream Gingerbread