Name: Quaker Bread
Ingredients: 1 lb malt extract; 2 lbs sugar (or more malt extract and no sugar); 3 lbs coarse sea salt; 140 to 145 lbs flour (same quality as for New England); 10 gallons water (75°F to 80°F); 12 to 14 oz compressed yeast; 1 lb lard; 10-12 lbs mush, corn flour, or cereline flakes (with extra water)

Why it works: Flour and corn are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,165 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Quaker Bread

Ingredients

1 lb malt extract
2 lbs sugar (or more malt extract and no sugar)
3 lbs coarse sea salt
140 to 145 lbs flour (same quality as for New England)
10 gallons water (75°F to 80°F)
12 to 14 oz compressed yeast
1 lb lard
10-12 lbs mush, corn flour, or cereline flakes (with extra water)

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the dough

Mix malt extract, sugar, coarse sea salt, flour, water, and yeast into a slack dough.
Let the dough rest for 3 to 4 hours.
Push down the dough once and let it rise again.

Shape and bake

Mould the dough into double loaves in square tins.
Bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°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.

Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,165 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Malt + corntop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together30 recipes

Shared aroma: 4-ethyl-2-methoxyphenol (smoky, clove).
Malt + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together325 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,168 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Flour: Forms the gluten network that gives the loaves their structure.
Yeast: Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become airy.
Malt extract: Provides fermentable sugars that feed the yeast and add a mild sweetness and colour.
Sugar: Feeds the yeast for quick fermentation and adds sweetness and browning.
Coarse sea salt: Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough structure.

“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.