Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Soft 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.
Make the batter
Melt the butter and molasses in a saucepan over low heat.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and brown sugar together until light and creamy.
Stir the egg yolk mixture into the melted butter and molasses.
Add the ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg, then mix in the flour and baking powder.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with 1 tablespoon of sugar until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
Bake
Pour the batter into an iron baking pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.
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.
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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Ginger + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together3,324 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Nutmeg + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together18,623 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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 moisture, giving the gingerbread its characteristic flavor.
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the cake together as the batter sets.
- Eggs
- Egg yolks enrich the batter, and whipped whites add lightness and help it rise.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the heat, causing the batter to rise and become tender.
- Butter
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and carries the spice flavors.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps keep the crumb soft.
The step that matters
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter. The whites hold air bubbles that help the cake rise and stay light. Stirring vigorously deflates them, which leads to a dense, heavy gingerbread.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, molasses, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, flour):
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Clovefits better
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, molasses, egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, 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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