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 ↓
Ginger Fingers
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
In a large bowl, mix the molasses, sugar, shortening, and boiling water until well combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Mix until a dough forms.
Roll the dough thin and cut it into strips measuring 1 inch by 4 inches.
Bake and finish
Place the strips on a baking sheet, leaving space between them.
Bake in the preheated oven until set.
Remove from the oven and let cool on paper.
Once cooled, cover each strip with boiled frosting.
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 + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,038 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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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
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep flavor to the dough.
- Shortening
- Adds fat, giving the cookies tenderness and a short texture.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the strips together as they bake.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to lighten the dough and aid spreading and browning.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the cookies brown during baking.
The step that matters
Baking until set. Strips baked too long turn brittle and dry, while strips underbaked stay soft and may break when lifted. Watching for the dough to look set, not browned, keeps the texture right as the strips cool and firm up.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, sugar, butter, flour, cinnamon, clove):
- Nutmegfits better
- Allspicefits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, sugar, butter, flour, cinnamon, clove. 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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