Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
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 dough
In a very large dish, combine the molasses, melted butter, and baking soda mixed with sweet milk.
Dissolve the alum in just enough water to cover it and add to the mixture.
Gradually add flour until the dough is stiff enough to roll out.
Mix the ingredients in the evening and set in a warm place to rise overnight.
Knead and shape
In the morning, knead the dough for a long time like bread.
Roll the dough into squares about ½ inch thick.
Bake
For a glossy finish, rub the top with the beaten egg and sweet cream mixture just before baking.
Bake in bread pans in an oven preheated to 350°F (175°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.
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.
-
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour 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
- Molasses or strained honey
- Provides sweetness, moisture and the dark, rich flavor of the loaf.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich texture in the crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that helps the dough rise and darkens its color.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten structure that gives the dough its stiffness and body.
- Egg
- Adds structure and richness, and helps the glaze bind and brown on top.
The step that matters
Adding the flour gradually. Flour absorbs liquid at its own pace, so adding it in stages lets you reach a stiff, rollable dough without making it dense or tough.
Swap the ginger
The recipe marks ginger as optional. How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, butter, milk, flour, egg, cream):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cinnamonfits better
- Capersfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, butter, milk, flour, egg, cream. 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.
You might also like
Molasses Sauce32 recipes
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 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.