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Dessert

Ginger Bread

A sweet loaf made with molasses, brown sugar, lard, sour milk, eggs, spices, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,189 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

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. 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

  1. Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, brown sugar, lard, and sour milk until well combined.

  2. Beat in the eggs one at a time.

  3. Add the baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves, and mix well.

  4. Gradually stir in the flour until the dough is smooth.

  5. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.

Bake

  1. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  5. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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 deep sweet flavor to the batter.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crumb stay tender.
Lard
Provides fat that keeps the crumb tender and moist.
Sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to help the cake rise.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda. Baking soda needs an acid, such as the sour milk and molasses here, to release carbon dioxide and leaven the batter. Mixing it in thoroughly keeps the rise even and prevents pockets of bitter, unreacted soda.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, milk, egg, cinnamon, allspice, clove):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Fennelfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, milk, egg, cinnamon, allspice, clove. 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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