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Dessert

Ginger Bread

A moist gingerbread loaf made with molasses, brown sugar, ginger, and spices.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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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

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

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 batter

  1. Melt molasses, shortening, and brown sugar together in a saucepan.

  2. Remove from heat and stir in the beaten eggs and milk.

  3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, mixed spice, ginger, and salt.

  4. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture.

  5. Dissolve baking soda in a little cold water and add to the batter.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a greased baking pan.

  2. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 45 minutes.

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.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep dark flavor and color.
All-purpose flour
Provides the structure that sets the batter as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness as they set.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas that lifts the batter.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and carries flavor.
Brown sugar
Adds sweetness and moisture, helping the cake stay soft.

The step that matters

Adding the dissolved baking soda. Baking soda starts reacting as soon as it meets the acidic molasses and liquid. Adding it to the batter promptly and mixing gently keeps the gas bubbles in the batter, so the gingerbread rises well in the oven instead of falling flat.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (molasses, butter, sugar, egg, milk, flour):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Allspicefits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against molasses, butter, sugar, egg, milk, 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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