Why it works: Ginger and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,324 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Cheap Black Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, sugar, and butter or lard until well combined.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the ginger and grated nutmeg.
Dissolve the baking soda in the sour milk and add to the mixture, or simply add the baking powder.
Gradually add flour until the batter is stiff enough to drop from a spoon.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake for about 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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.
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.
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Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 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
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, moisture and a rich, slightly bitter sweetness.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a moist, fine crumb.
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter hold its shape while baking.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that makes the cake rise.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the cake as the batter bakes.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the batter is stiff enough to drop from a spoon. Too much flour makes the cake dense and dry, while too little leaves it weak and sunken. Adding it gradually lets you stop at the right consistency.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, butter, egg, nutmeg, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, butter, egg, nutmeg, milk, flour. 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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