Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Ginger Pound 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
Stir in the molasses and sour cream until combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking soda.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Add ginger and spice to taste.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 50-60 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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + molassestop 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).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, binding the batter as they set in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat and tenderness, and creaming it with sugar traps air for a lighter crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps create a tender, lightly aerated texture when creamed.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, moisture and the deep flavor typical of ginger cake.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Sour cream
- Adds moisture and tenderness, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.. Once flour meets liquid, gluten begins to develop. Mixing only until combined keeps the crumb tender rather than tough and dense.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, sugar, molasses, flour, cream):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, sugar, molasses, flour, 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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