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Ginger Wafers

A sweet, ginger-flavored wafer baked from molasses, cream, and ginger extract.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Ginger Wafers

Why it works: Molasses and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Ginger Wafers

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.

Make the batter

  1. Mix molasses, salt, cream, and ginger extract in a bowl.

Bake and shape

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto copper baking sheets.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until they become a little dry and crisp.

  3. Remove from the oven and shape on a mandrel.

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.

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.

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

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Molasses + creamtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,408 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Cream + gingertop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,137 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Molasses
Provides sweetness, deep color and moisture to the dough.
Cream
Adds fat and moisture, making the mixture richer and more tender.
Ginger extract
Supplies the characteristic ginger aroma and flavor.

The step that matters

Shape on the mandrel while still warm. Baked cookies stiffen and turn brittle as they cool, so they must be shaped right out of the oven while still pliable.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, cream):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, 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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