Skip to main content
Main

Boston Corn Bread

A yeast-based corn bread with sweet and sour milk, molasses, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Wheat and corn match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 465 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓

Boston Corn Bread

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Mix and rise

  1. Combine sweet milk, sour milk, molasses, wheat flour, corn meal, and salt in a bowl.

  2. Add enough water to wet the mixture without making it a batter, stirring constantly.

  3. Mix in the yeast and make the mixture as stiff as possible with a spoon.

  4. Let the mixture rise overnight in a warm place.

Add soda and pan

  1. In the morning, add 1 teaspoon of baking soda dissolved in a little water.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a large pan and smooth the top with a wet hand.

  3. Let it stand for a short time before baking.

Bake

  1. Bake for 5 to 6 hours at 300°F (150°C). If baking late in the day, let it remain in the oven overnight.

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.

  1. Wheat + corntop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together465 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  2. Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  3. Milk + corntop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  4. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Corn meal
Forms the main body and crumb of the bread.
Yeast
Produces gas during the overnight rise, lightening the mixture.
Sour milk
Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to add lift and tang.
Baking soda (in the method)
Reacts with the acid in sour milk to release gas and aid rising.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color.
Wheat flour
Adds gluten-based structure that helps hold the loaf together.

The step that matters

Adding the baking soda in the morning. Baking soda reacts quickly with the acid in sour milk, releasing gas. Once dissolved, it should be mixed in promptly and not left to sit, or much of its lifting power is lost before baking.

“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.

You might also like

Corn FrittersCorn Fritters203 recipesCream of Corn SoupCream of Corn Soup50 recipesGreen Corn SoupGreen Corn Soup46 recipesCornmeal GruelCornmeal Gruel41 recipes