Name: Drop Ginger Cakes— Mrs. D.'s.
Ingredients: 1 cup boiling water; 1 cup butter; 1 egg; 1 cup brown sugar; 1 cup molasses; 2 teaspoons saleratus (not soda); 5 cups flour; 2 tablespoons ginger; 2 tablespoons cinnamon; 1 teaspoon cloves

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 ↓

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.

Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together14,189 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,380 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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

Swap the ginger

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

Nutmegfits better
Allspicefits better
Cardamomfits about as well
Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, molasses, flour, cinnamon, clove. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Drop Ginger Cakes— Mrs. D.'s.