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Dessert

Soft Ginger Bread

A moist ginger bread loaf made with molasses, butter, spices, and baking soda, topped with granulated sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Soft Ginger Bread

Why it works: Cinnamon and clove 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 ↓

Soft Ginger Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, molasses, and butter.

  3. Add the ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and salt, and mix well.

  4. Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water or coffee.

  5. Add the dissolved mixture to the batter.

  6. Gradually stir in the sifted flour until combined.

  7. Fold in the beaten eggs.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a shallow biscuit tin.

  2. Sprinkle the granulated sugar evenly over the top.

  3. Bake in the preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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.

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.

  1. Cinnamon + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together14,189 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Ginger + clovetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,038 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
Provides dark color, rich flavor, and moisture, and keeps the crumb soft.
Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses and liquid to lift the batter and help it rise.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cake's crumb together as it bakes.
Eggs
Add structure and binding to the batter as they set during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and a richer texture in the crumb.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps with browning on the surface.

The step that matters

Dissolving the baking soda in the boiling liquid. Baking soda needs moisture and an acidic partner like molasses to react and lift the batter. Adding it dry or unevenly can leave dense or bitter spots, so it should be fully dissolved before it goes in.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, butter, cinnamon, clove, coffee, flour):

  1. Nutmegfits better
  2. Allspicefits better
  3. Cardamomfits better
  4. Gingerthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, butter, cinnamon, clove, coffee, 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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