Why it works: Sugar and buttermilk match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,973 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Mammy's Ginger Cakes
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 dough
In a bowl, rub the yolks of the eggs with the sugar until well combined.
Add the buttermilk, fat, salt, baking soda, molasses, and ginger; mix until smooth.
Shape and bake
Roll the dough thin on a floured surface and cut with a cake cutter.
Place the cut cakes on a baking sheet and bake until golden.
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.
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Sugar + buttermilktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,973 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Buttermilk + molassestop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,116 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + gingertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together14,054 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar and ginger barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 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
- Eggs
- Add structure and richness, helping the batter hold together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps tenderize the crumb and promote gentle browning.
- Buttermilk
- Adds moisture and acidity, which reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Produces gas with the acidic buttermilk and molasses, helping the cakes rise and lighten.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and dark color, and its acidity also reacts with the baking soda.
- Fat
- Adds tenderness and moisture, softening the texture of the cakes.
The step that matters
Mix the baking soda fully into the batter. Baking soda must be evenly distributed so it reacts with the acidic buttermilk and molasses throughout. Unmixed pockets can leave bitter spots or uneven rising.
Swap the ginger
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, buttermilk, molasses):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Nutmegfits about as well
- Gingerthe original
- Allspicefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, buttermilk, molasses. 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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