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Dessert

Ginger Cake

A moist cake flavored with molasses, brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Ginger Cake

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 Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Mix molasses and brown sugar in a bowl.

  2. Add butter and hot water to the mixture.

  3. Beat the egg yolks and add them to the bowl.

  4. Stir in cinnamon, ginger, and cloves.

  5. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the mixture.

  6. Dissolve the baking soda in a little water and add it to the mixture.

  7. Gradually add the flour, mixing until smooth.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.

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

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

Eggs
Egg whites add airy lift when beaten stiff, while yolks add richness and structure to the batter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas, helping the cake rise and lighten.
Flour
Forms the gluten network and structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness along with acidity that activates the baking soda.
Brown sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps keep it moist and tender.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Beaten whites trap air that gives lift. Folding gently keeps that air in; stirring vigorously deflates the foam and leaves a denser cake.

Swap the ginger

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, molasses, sugar, egg, butter, cinnamon, 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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