Name: Soft Gingerbread
Ingredients: 1 cup of cream; 1 cup of molasses; 1 teaspoon of ginger; a little salt

Why it works: Molasses and ginger are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,116 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Soft Gingerbread

Ingredients

1 cup of cream
1 cup of molasses
1 teaspoon of ginger
a little salt

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.

Mix the cream, molasses, ginger, and salt together.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

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.

Molasses + gingertop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,116 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + molassestop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,408 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + gingertop 29% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,137 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).

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

What each ingredient does

Cream: Adds moisture and richness, giving the gingerbread a softer, tender crumb.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and deep color, and helps keep the gingerbread soft.
Ginger: Provides the warm, spicy aroma and flavor that defines the gingerbread.