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Dessert

Ginger Cake

A cake made with eggs, sugar, spices, candied peel, flour, baking powder, and almonds.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Ginger Cake

Why it works: Clove and cinnamon 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 ↓

Ginger Cake

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix the beaten eggs and granulated sugar until well combined.

  2. Add the ground cloves, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, candied lemon peel, and candied orange peel.

  3. Sift the flour and baking powder together, then add to the mixture and stir until well mixed.

  4. Fold in the chopped almonds.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a large pan and bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Lemon + orangetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  5. Cinnamon + orangetop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,437 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set in the oven.
All-purpose flour
Forms the gluten-based structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises and becomes lighter.
Granulated sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the batter brown and stay moist.
Candied lemon peel
Adds bright, tangy citrus flavour and chewy texture throughout the cake.
Blanched jordan almonds
Add crunch and a toasted, nutty flavour against the soft crumb.

The step that matters

Folding in the flour and almonds. Stirring flour too vigorously develops gluten and toughens the cake. Mix just until combined, and fold the almonds in gently so the batter keeps the air that helps it rise.

Swap the orange

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

  1. Raisinfits about as well
  2. Orangethe original
  3. Limefits about as well
  4. Vanillafits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, clove, cinnamon, ginger, lemon, 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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