Why it works: Flour and sugar 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 ↓
Vienna Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 380°F (190°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the dough
Combine flour, water, yeast, malt extract, sugar, lard, and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Let the dough rise for 3¾ hours for the first rise.
Allow for a second rise of 1 hour.
Let it rise for a third time for ½ hour.
Bench the dough for 3½ hours.
Shape the loaves
Scale the dough into required sizes and round the pieces, resting them for 10 to 15 minutes.
Shape the rested pieces into Vienna loaves.
Place the loaves smooth side down on cloth-covered boards, pinching the cloth between them.
Allow the loaves to rest until they double in size.
Bake
Bake the loaves in a steam-filled oven at 380°F (190°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.
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Malt + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together325 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Flour + malttop 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
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the loaves their structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide during the long rises, raising the dough.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and softens the texture.
- Malt extract
- Feeds the yeast and supports fermentation, adding flavor and browning.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and contributes to browning of the crust.
- Salt
- Controls yeast activity and strengthens gluten, adding flavor.
The step that matters
Bake in a steam-filled oven. Steam keeps the crust moist early in baking so the loaf can expand fully before the surface sets, giving a light interior and a glossy, crisp crust.
“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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