Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger 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 ↓
Soft 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth.
Stir in the molasses and sour cream until well combined.
In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and ginger.
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, mixing until just combined.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until fully incorporated.
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.
Bake
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center 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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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Butter
- Creams with the sugar to give the cake a tender, rich crumb and moisture.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as the cake sets in the oven.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour cream and molasses to lift the batter as it bakes.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, moisture and the classic gingerbread flavor.
- Sour cream
- Adds acidity that activates the baking soda and keeps the crumb soft and moist.
The step that matters
Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Adding flour in portions and mixing only until combined keeps the batter smooth and limits gluten development, which would otherwise make the gingerbread tough and dense.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, molasses, cream, flour, egg, cinnamon):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Allspicefits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, molasses, cream, flour, egg, cinnamon. 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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