Why it works: Allspice and clove match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Ginger Cup Cake
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
Cut the butter into the milk and warm them slightly.
Warm the molasses and stir it into the milk and butter mixture.
Gradually stir in the brown sugar and set aside to cool.
Beat the eggs until light and stir them into the mixture alternately with the flour.
Add the ginger, allspice, cloves, and pearl ash, and mix well.
Bake
Butter small tins and fill them nearly full with the mixture.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
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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Allspice + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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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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Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,302 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and trap air when beaten, giving the cakes lift and structure.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, dark colour and a deep ginger-friendly flavour.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and richness, softening the crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the starch and gluten network that sets the cake's structure.
- Pearl ash
- Reacts with the vinegar to release gas, helping the cakes rise.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crumb stay soft.
The step that matters
Adding the pearl ash. Pearl ash releases gas when it meets the acid in the vinegar, so it should be mixed in thoroughly and the batter baked promptly before that lift escapes.
Swap the clove
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, molasses, sugar, butter, milk, flour, allspice):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovethe original
- Cardamomfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, molasses, sugar, butter, milk, flour, allspice. 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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