Skip to main content
Dessert

Whole Wheat Ginger Bread

A baked loaf made with molasses, sour milk, ginger, and whole wheat flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Milk and wheat are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓

Whole Wheat Ginger Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Combine the ingredients in the order listed.

  2. Mix well until thoroughly combined.

  3. Optionally, add raisins or nuts.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased 8x10x1 inch baking sheet.

  2. Bake in a gas oven at 400°F (200°C) for 1 hour.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  2. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Ginger + wheattop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together255 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

  4. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides dark color, rich flavor and moisture, and helps the gingerbread stay tender.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas, helping the gingerbread rise.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tenderness and moisture to the crumb.
Whole wheat flour
Forms the structure of the gingerbread and gives it a nutty, hearty texture.
Lard
Adds fat for tenderness and a moist crumb.

The step that matters

Combine the ingredients in the order listed. Baking soda must meet the acidic sour milk and molasses in the batter so it can release gas for rising. Adding ingredients out of order or leaving the batter to stand before baking can reduce that lift.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, milk, sugar, wheat, flour):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits about as well
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Jalapenofits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, milk, sugar, wheat, 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.

You might also like

Ginger CookiesGinger Cookies213 recipesMolasses CookiesMolasses Cookies96 recipesGinger CakeGinger Cake93 recipesMolasses CakeMolasses Cake90 recipes