Name: Drop Ginger Cakes
Ingredients: one cup of brown sugar; one cup of boil- ing water; two teaspoonfuls of soda; two tablespoonfuls each of ginger; half teaspoonful of ground cloves; five cups of flour; one egg; ginger; cinnamon; cloves

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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.

Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together30,779 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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 bake.
Egg: Binds the batter and adds structure and richness to the cakes.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidity in molasses and sugar to lift and lighten the cakes.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, moisture and a soft, tender crumb.
Molasses (in the method): Adds moisture, deep sweetness and the dark color and flavor typical of ginger cakes.
Butter (in the method): Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.

The step that matters

Bake in a quick oven without burning. Sugar and molasses brown and scorch quickly at high heat, so the cakes can turn bitter or dark on the outside before the centers are cooked through.

Swap the ginger

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

Nutmegfits better
Cardamomfits better
Allspicefits better
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, clove, flour, egg, 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
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Cloves	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
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

Drop Ginger Cakes