Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Ginger-pop
Ingredients
Directions
Make the mash
Put a very clean pot containing a gallon of water to boil on the fire.
As soon as it begins to boil, add twelve ounces of brown sugar, one ounce of bruised ginger, and two ounces of cream of tartar; stir well together.
Pour the whole into an earthen pan, cover it over with a cloth, and let the mash remain in this state until it has become quite cold.
Ferment
Stir in half a gill of fresh yeast.
Stir all well together until thoroughly mixed, cover the pan over with a cloth, and leave the ginger-beer in a cool place to work up; this will take from six to eight hours.
The scum which has risen to the top must then be carefully removed with a spoon without disturbing the brightness of the beer.
Carefully pour the bright liquid off into a jug with a spout, to enable you easily to pour it into the bottles.
Bottle and rest
These must be immediately corked down tight, tied across the corks with string, and put away, lying down in the cellar.
The ginger-pop will be fit to drink in about four days after it has been bottled.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Ginger | 1 tsp grated fresh (2g) | 2 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Ginger + creamtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,137 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Brown sugar
- Provides the sugar that the yeast ferments, creating carbonation and flavour.
- Fresh yeast
- Ferments the sugars, producing carbon dioxide that makes the drink fizzy.
- Cream of tartar
- Adds acidity that helps give the beer a tart, balanced flavour.
- Bruised ginger
- Releases aromatic compounds into the water, giving the beer its spicy flavour.
The step that matters
Corking the bottles tightly. Carbon dioxide from fermentation builds pressure inside the bottles, so loose corks can let the drink go flat or the bottles burst. Tying the corks down keeps the pressure contained while the drink carbonates.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, cream):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Peppermintfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, cream. 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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