Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Ginger Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the dough
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, sour milk, and lard.
Add the ginger, cinnamon, baking soda mixed with hot water, and stir until combined.
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough thin and cut into desired shapes.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 sweetness, dark color and a moist, chewy texture to the cakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to leaven the cakes and help them rise.
- Lard
- Provides fat that tenderizes the dough and adds richness to the texture.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds a slight tang.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the dough together once it is stiff enough to cut.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff. Adding flour in small amounts lets you judge the texture; too much makes the cakes dense and tough, while too little leaves the dough too soft to roll and cut cleanly.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, milk, cinnamon, flour):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, milk, cinnamon, 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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