Name: Soft Gixgeb Bread
Ingredients: one cup of butter; four cups flour; one cup of sour milk; half cups of flour; one teaspoonful of soda; one pound of flour; one teaspoonful of cinnamon; two cups of new orleans molasses; one cup of boiling water; two teaspoonfuls of baking powder; one-half pint of molasses; one cup of sugar; half pound of butter; one quart of molasses; one pint sweet lard; one pint of molasses one of butter; a cup of butter; a teaspoonful of cloves; a pound of sugar; a quart of molasses; a pound of butter; a cup of melted butter; a cup of cinnamon; half teacups of brown sugar; four eggs; one teacup sour cream; one tea- spoonful of soda; three eggs; one-half teaspoonfiils of ginger; one tablespoonfui ground ginger

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. 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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,655 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Cinnamon + sugartop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Cinnamon and sugar 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

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
Butter: Adds fat and tenderness, and richness to the crumb.
Molasses: Provides sweetness, dark color, and moisture that keeps the gingerbread soft.
Flour: Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic sour milk to lift the batter as it bakes.

The step that matters

Make stiff as pound cake.. The batter's consistency sets the crumb. Too thin a batter bakes heavy and sunken, while the right stiffness gives a fine, even structure that holds its rise.

Swap the clove

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

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

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

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Lard	1 tbsp (12.8g)	115
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Molasses	1 tbsp (20g)	58
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Water	not in our table	0

Soft Gixgeb Bread