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Dessert

Molasses Ginger Bread

A moist ginger bread made with molasses, whole wheat and graham flour, sweetened with sugar and raisins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Molasses 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 batter

  1. Break the eggs into a bowl and beat them.

  2. Add the sugar, ginger, and cinnamon; mix well.

  3. Stir in the molasses and the baking soda dissolved in warm water.

  4. Add the sour milk and melted butter or lard; mix until combined.

  5. Gradually add the whole wheat flour and graham flour; mix until smooth.

  6. Fold in raisins as desired.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a large sheet pan and bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 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. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + wheattop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together537 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).

  3. Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  5. Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness with a slight tang.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tenderness and moisture.
Butter or lard
Adds fat for tenderness and a softer crumb.
Whole wheat flour and graham flour
Provide the main structure of the bread while adding a nutty, earthy flavor.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda. Baking soda must be dissolved and mixed in promptly, because it begins releasing gas as soon as it meets the acidic sour milk and molasses. Delaying the bake lets that lift escape, which can leave the loaf dense.

Swap the ginger

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

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Cardamomfits about as well
  3. Clovefits about as well
  4. Gingerthe original

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