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 Cakes
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 large bowl, combine the flour, butter, lard, ginger, cloves, allspice, cinnamon, and baking soda.
Gradually add molasses until the mixture forms a workable dough.
Knead the dough until smooth, then roll out and cut into desired shapes.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden brown.
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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Clove + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together14,189 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together7,874 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Allspice + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + cinnamontop 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the dough together and sets as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and helps the cakes brown as they bake.
- Lard
- Adds fat that keeps the texture tender and crumbly.
- Molasses
- Binds the dough, adds moisture, and contributes sweetness and deep color.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in molasses to lighten the cakes and promote browning.
The step that matters
Adding the molasses gradually. Molasses is added in stages so the dough hydrates evenly and reaches a workable texture. Adding it all at once can make the dough sticky and hard to shape, and over-mixing after that can toughen the cakes.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, clove, allspice, cinnamon, molasses):
- Nutmegfits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
- Turmericfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, clove, allspice, cinnamon, molasses. 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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