Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Old Fashioned Graham Bread
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
In a large bowl, combine the yeast, warm water, salt, and sugar.
Stir in the baking soda and enough Graham flour to create a batter that drops off a spoon easily.
Rise and bake
Grease your bread pans and pour the batter in.
Cover and let the dough rise until it is light and fluffy.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 45 minutes.
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.
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yeast
- Ferments the batter so it rises and becomes light and fluffy.
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the bread, with a coarse, nutty texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the batter to produce gas that helps the bread rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning to the crust.
The step that matters
Stirring in the flour to the right consistency. The batter must be stiff enough to hold its shape but loose enough to drop from a spoon. Too much flour makes a dense loaf, while too little gives a flat, gummy one, because flour sets the structure as the bread bakes.
“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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