Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Soft 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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, mix together the sugar, shortening, and molasses.
Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice to the mixture.
Gradually stir in the boiling water until well combined.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased baking pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let cool before serving.
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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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + gingertop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Ginger + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,620 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + flourtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together17,341 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep, sweet flavor to the gingerbread.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses's acidity to produce gas that lightens the crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the structure that sets the batter into a cake-like crumb.
- Shortening
- Adds fat for a tender texture and softer crumb.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning and moisture in the crumb.
- Ground ginger
- Provides the main warm, spicy aroma that defines gingerbread.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in the boiling water. Boiling water loosens the batter and dissolves the sugar and spices evenly. Adding it slowly prevents lumps and keeps the batter smooth, so the baking soda and flour mix evenly and the crumb bakes uniformly.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, molasses, cinnamon, flour, allspice):
- Nutmegfits better
- Clovefits better
- Cardamomfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, molasses, cinnamon, flour, allspice. 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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