Name: Anotheb Beceipt Fob Cocoa-nut Gingbbbbbad
Ingredients: 2 cups all-purpose flour; 2 cups ground rice; ¾ ounce ground ginger; zest of 1 lemon; 1 cup treacle (molasses); 5 ounces butter, softened; 5 ounces sugar; 6½ ounces grated coconut; 2 ounces candied peel, chopped (optional)

Why it works: Rice and coconut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,063 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Anotheb Beceipt Fob Cocoa-nut Gingbbbbbad

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

Prepare

Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).

Mix the batter

In a large bowl, mix flour and ground rice together.
Add ground ginger and lemon zest to the flour mixture.
In a saucepan, heat treacle, butter, and sugar until melted and combined.
Pour the melted mixture into the dry ingredients and mix well.
Allow the paste to cool, then fold in grated coconut and candied peel if using.

Bake

Spoon the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

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.

Rice + coconuttop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together1,063 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ginger + lemontop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,154 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Ginger + coconuttop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,168 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rice + gingertop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,196 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Molasses + sugartop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,225 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Ground rice: Gives the gingerbread a dense, slightly crumbly texture in place of some flour.
All-purpose flour: Provides the main structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
Treacle (molasses): Adds moisture, dark color, and a deep sweet-bitter flavor typical of gingerbread.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
Grated coconut: Adds moisture, chewiness, and a toasty flavor as it bakes.
Ground ginger: Provides the warm, spicy aroma that defines the dish.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, rice, ginger, molasses, butter, sugar, coconut):

Raisinfits better
Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, rice, ginger, molasses, butter, sugar, coconut. 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.