Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Aunt Molly's Ginger Bread
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.
Mix the dough
Mix the milk, molasses, and flour together.
Melt the butter and add it to the mixture.
In a separate bowl, dissolve the baking soda in a little water and add it to the mixture.
Add the alum dissolved in water and mix well.
Knead the dough until it is stiff enough to roll out.
Rise and shape
Set the dough in a warm place to rise overnight.
In the morning, knead the dough again and roll it into squares about ½ inch thick.
Bake and glaze
Bake in bread pans in an oven preheated to 350°F (175°C).
For a glossy finish, rub the top with a mixture of one beaten egg and sweet cream before baking.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour and butter 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
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough structure and allows it to be rolled out.
- Butter
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
- Molasses
- Provides sweetness, moisture, and the dark color of the gingerbread.
- Milk
- Adds moisture that hydrates the flour and softens the dough.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas that helps the dough rise and darkens its color.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda before mixing it in. Baking soda must be fully dissolved and evenly worked through the dough so it reacts with the acidic molasses throughout. Unevenly distributed soda leaves pockets that can taste bitter or soapy and rise unevenly.
“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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