Why it works: Sugar and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Mix the flour, lard, ginger, brown sugar, molasses, and salt in a large bowl.
Dissolve the baking soda in a small amount of molasses.
Add the dissolved baking soda to the mixture.
Knead the dough well.
Shape and bake
Roll it out and cut into thin cakes.
Bake until crisp at 400°F (200°C).
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.
-
Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Ginger + molassestop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Flour + gingertop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,564 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking soda
- Reacts to produce gas that lifts and lightens the dough as it bakes.
- Molasses
- Adds moisture, sweetness, and depth of flavour, and helps the cakes brown.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a short, crisp texture.
- All-purpose flour
- Forms the structure of the dough once kneaded and rolled.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in molasses. Baking soda must be fully dissolved before it is mixed in, so it spreads evenly through the dough. Unevenly distributed soda can leave bitter, soapy patches or uneven rising.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, molasses):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Jalapenofits better
- Gingerthe original
- Nutmegfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, molasses. 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.
More ginger cakes recipes
You might also like
Ginger Cookies213 recipes
Molasses Cookies96 recipes
Ginger Cake93 recipes
Molasses Cake90 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.