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Bread

Boston Brown Bread

A dense, sweet bread made with cornmeal, rye meal, graham flour, molasses, and sour milk, baked after steaming.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Rye and flour match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,320 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Boston Brown Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Mix the batter

  1. Mix and sift the dry ingredients together.

  2. Add the molasses and milk, then beat thoroughly.

Steam and bake

  1. Steam in well-buttered covered molds for 3 hours.

  2. Remove the covers and bake until the top is dry.

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. Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,320 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Rye + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together918 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together804 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Cornmeal
Gives the bread its coarse texture and sturdy crumb.
Rye meal
Adds a deeper, tangy flavor and a dense, moist crumb.
Graham flour
Contributes a nutty flavor and a coarser, hearty texture.
Molasses
Sweetens and darkens the bread while adding moisture and flavor.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Baking powder
Supplies extra leavening so the steamed loaf rises evenly.

The step that matters

Keep the molds covered while steaming. Covered molds trap steam, which cooks the batter gently and keeps it moist. Lifting the lid early lets steam escape, so the loaf can cook unevenly and turn heavy.

“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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