Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Ginger Cake
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.
Prepare
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a bowl, mix the self-raising flour, sugar, and ground ginger.
Add the golden syrup and honey to the dry ingredients.
Melt the butter in the hot milk, then dissolve the baking soda in the milk.
Shape and bake
Combine the milk mixture with the other ingredients to form a stiff dough.
Shape the dough into flat cakes and place them in well-buttered bags.
Bake for 45 minutes.
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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Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Honey + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,336 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).
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Ginger + honeytop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,163 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Self-raising flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Golden syrup
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the cake brown.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender texture and rich flavour.
- Baking soda
- Helps the cake rise and darken as it bakes.
- Ground ginger
- Gives the cake its main spiced aroma and flavour.
- Hot milk
- Adds moisture and helps melt the butter and dissolve the baking soda.
The step that matters
Dissolving the baking soda in the milk. Baking soda must be fully dissolved in the liquid so it spreads evenly through the dough. Unevenly distributed baking soda can leave pockets that rise unevenly or taste bitter.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, syrup, honey, butter, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
- Jalapenofits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, syrup, honey, butter, milk. 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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