Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger 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 and bake the batter
In a bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, lard, salt, sour milk, baking soda, and ginger.
Gradually add flour until the batter is thick enough to drop from a spoon.
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
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.
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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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Ginger + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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 sweetness and moisture, and gives the cake its characteristic color and flavor.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda so the cake rises and stays tender.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
- Lard
- Provides fat that keeps the crumb tender and moist.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that sets the batter as it bakes.
The step that matters
Adding the flour. Flour should be added gradually until the batter is thick enough to drop from a spoon. Too much flour makes the cake dense and dry, while too little leaves it thin and weak in structure.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, milk, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, 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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