Why it works: Syrup and sugar 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 says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Melt the butter, syrup, and sugar together in a saucepan.
Cut preserved ginger into small pieces.
In a bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and ground ginger.
Make the batter
Beat the egg and add it to the mixture.
Combine all ingredients and add a little milk to achieve the right consistency.
Pour the batter into a cake tin lined with buttered paper.
Bake
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 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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Syrup + sugartop 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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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise and become light.
- Egg
- Adds structure and binds the batter as it sets in the oven.
- Syrup
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and helps the cake brown and stay tender.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and rich flavour in the finished cake.
The step that matters
Add a little milk to achieve the right consistency. Flour absorbs liquid and too much milk makes the batter loose, while too little leaves it stiff. The batter should be thick but pourable so the cake bakes evenly and rises well.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (syrup, sugar, egg, butter, flour, milk):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits better
- Jalapenofits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against syrup, sugar, egg, butter, flour, 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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