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Dessert

Plebeian Ginger Bread

A ginger bread made with flour, water, butter, molasses, ginger, and pearl ash.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Mary Randolph (1762–1828) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and tea work together. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 216 recipes. Both carry (e)-2-octenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Plebeian Ginger Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Mix three large spoonsful of pounded ginger with three quarts of flour—sift it.

  2. Dissolve three tea‑spoons‑ful of pearl‑ash in a cup of water.

  3. Pour the dissolved pearl‑ash water over the flour.

  4. Melt half a pound of butter in a quart of molasses.

  5. Mix the melted butter and molasses with the flour.

  6. Knead the dough well.

Shape and bake

  1. Cut the dough into shapes.

  2. Bake the shapes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

559Calories
13 gProtein
13 gFat
95 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Waternot 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 Mary Randolph (1762–1828). 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 + teatop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together216 recipes

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

  2. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + gingertop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,564 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + teatop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together703 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

  5. Flour + teatop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together449 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Forms the structure that holds the gingerbread together.
Pearl-ash
Alkaline leavener that reacts with molasses to lighten the dough and deepen its color.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavor.
Molasses (in the method)
Provides sweetness, moisture, and the dark color and flavor typical of gingerbread.
Pounded ginger
Supplies the spicy aroma that defines the gingerbread flavor.

The step that matters

Dissolving the pearl-ash before adding it to the flour. Pearl-ash must be fully dissolved in water so it spreads evenly through the dough; undissolved lumps can leave bitter or soapy pockets and uneven rising.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, tea):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Sagefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, tea. 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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