Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Quaker Bread
Ingredients
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.
Make the dough
In a large container, combine lukewarm water, yeast, salt, sugar, lard, and malt extract.
Gradually add clear spring wheat flour to make a slack dough.
Rest and shape
Let the dough stand for 3 hours.
Cut the dough, let it stand for another hour.
Cut the dough again and let it stand for 30 minutes.
Punch the dough down, place it on a bench, scale it off, and mold it into pans with 2 loaves per pan.
Bake
Allow for a short proof, then bake in a solid oven at 350°F (175°C).
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.
-
Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Malt + wheattop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together64 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Sugar + malttop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together325 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Malt + flourtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together260 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
- Clear spring wheat flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning.
- Lard
- Adds fat that softens the crumb and tenderizes the bread.
- Malt extract
- Supplies sugars for yeast activity and aids browning in the crust.
The step that matters
Gradually add the flour to make a slack dough. Adding flour gradually lets it hydrate evenly and prevents lumps. A slack, wet dough develops gluten as it rests, so the bread holds its shape and rises well.
“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
Wheat Bread65 recipes
Whole Wheat Bread55 recipes
Barley Wheat Bread6 recipes
Cornbread345 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.