Name: 10. Plain Gingerbread.
Ingredients: 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful butter 4 tablespoonfuls _method; 1/2 teaspoonful butter 4 tablespoonfuls _method; 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder used instead; 1/2 cup liquid; 1 cup boiling water 1/2 cup flour 2-1/2 cups soda 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 tea; 1/2 cup flour 2-1/2 cups soda 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 t; 2-1/2 cups soda 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful but; 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful butter 4 tablespoon; 4 tablespoonfuls _method

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 ↓

10. Plain Gingerbread.

Ingredients

1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful butter 4 tablespoonfuls _method
1/2 teaspoonful butter 4 tablespoonfuls _method
3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder used instead
1/2 cup liquid
1 cup boiling water 1/2 cup flour 2-1/2 cups soda 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 tea
1/2 cup flour 2-1/2 cups soda 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 t
2-1/2 cups soda 1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful but
1 teaspoonful ginger 1-1/2 teaspoonfuls salt 1/2 teaspoonful butter 4 tablespoon
4 tablespoonfuls _method

Directions

Prepare

Melt butter in boiling water.
Mix dry ingredients.

Mix and bake

Add the molasses to the water and butter and stir this mixture into the dry ingredients, beating vigorously.
Pour into a buttered shallow pan and bake twenty minutes in a moderate oven.
If the molasses is taken from a freshly opened can, no acid will be present and the soda should be omitted and 3 teaspoonfuls of baking powder used instead.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

608Calories

13 gProtein

13 gFat

108 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 7 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Water	not in our table	0
Tea	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.

By Helen Kinne and Anna M. Cooley. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Ginger + teatop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together216 recipes

Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + gingertop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,564 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + teatop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together703 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).
Flour + teatop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together449 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Butter and flour 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

Soda: Reacts with the acid in molasses to release gas, which lifts and lightens the batter.
Molasses (in the method): Adds sweetness, dark colour, moisture and the acid that activates the soda.
Flour: Provides the starch and protein that form the structure of the gingerbread.

The step that matters

Check the molasses before adding soda. Baking soda only leavens when an acid is present. Molasses supplies that acid, but molasses from a freshly opened can has little, so soda without acid will not rise properly and baking powder should be used instead.

Swap the ginger

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

Cinnamonfits better
Nutmegfits better
Sagefits about as well
Gingerthe original

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

Ginger Cookies213 recipes

Ginger Cake93 recipes

Soft Ginger Bread85 recipes

Soft Ginger Cake56 recipes

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10. Plain Gingerbread.