Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Good Gingerbread
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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the batter
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, mix together the molasses, sugar, butter or lard, and sour milk.
Add the baking soda and ground ginger, and mix well.
Beat in the eggs until fully combined.
Gradually add flour until the batter is as stiff as pound cake.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Optionally, fold in raisins or currants before baking.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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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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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 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
- Molasses
- Adds dark color, moisture and a deep, sweet flavor to the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to release gas, lifting the batter as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure to the crumb as they set in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter into a cake-like crumb.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a richer mouthfeel in the crumb.
- Sour milk
- Provides acidity to activate the baking soda and adds moisture.
The step that matters
Gradually add flour until the batter is as stiff as pound cake. Too little flour leaves a wet, sunken center, while too much makes the crumb dense and dry. Adding it gradually lets you stop at the right stiffness.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, butter, milk, egg, flour):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Gingerthe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, butter, milk, egg, 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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