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Dessert

Ginger Cake

A moist cake made with molasses, ginger, cinnamon, sour cream, and lard, baked at 350°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Ginger Cake

Why it works: Cinnamon and ginger 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 ↓

Ginger Cake

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.

Make the batter

  1. Dissolve the baking soda in the sour cream and mix well.

  2. Add a little warm water, lard, sugar, eggs, cinnamon, molasses, and ground ginger.

  3. Gradually add the sifted flour, mixing thoroughly.

  4. Incorporate the baking powder with the last cup of flour.

  5. Beat the mixture hard for 1 to 2 minutes.

Bake and test

  1. Prepare deep pans lined with greased paper and fill them with the batter.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 20 to 30 minutes.

  3. Test for doneness with a broom whisk.

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 + gingertop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,380 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,225 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour cream to release gas, helping the cake rise and lighten.
Sour cream
Adds moisture and tang, and its acidity activates the baking soda for a tender crumb.
Eggs
Add structure and richness, helping the batter set and hold its shape as it bakes.
Molasses
Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweetness that helps the cake brown.
Flour
Forms the structure of the cake as its proteins set during baking.
Baking powder
Provides additional lift by releasing gas during baking, supporting the rise.

The step that matters

Beat the batter hard for 1 to 2 minutes. Vigorous beating develops gluten in the flour and traps air, which lifts the cake. Overmixing after the flour is added can make it tough, so the beating should be brief and deliberate.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cream, sugar, egg, cinnamon, molasses, flour):

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

Fit is the average pairing score against cream, sugar, egg, cinnamon, molasses, 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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