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 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
In a large bowl, stir together the lard, sugar, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger.
In a separate bowl, mix the milk and baking soda, then add to the molasses mixture.
Gradually add the flour, beating well until combined.
If desired, fold in seeded raisins.
Bake
Pour the batter into a loaf pan or small tins.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until a toothpick inserted 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.
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 + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
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.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter into a cake-like crumb as it bakes.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lifts the batter as it bakes.
- Lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a soft, moist texture.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps dissolve the baking soda into the batter.
The step that matters
Adding the baking soda and milk to the molasses. Baking soda needs an acidic partner like molasses to react and leaven the batter. Mixing it in a separate bowl first keeps it evenly dispersed so the bread rises uniformly rather than in pockets.
“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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