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Bread

Barley and Wheat Bread

A loaf made with barley and wheat flour, molasses, raisins, and leavening agents baked at 300°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Barley and Wheat Bread

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Barley and Wheat Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients: barley flour, wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and raisins.

  2. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.

  3. Add the molasses, egg, and milk into the well.

  4. Mix all the ingredients together until just combined.

  5. Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.

Bake

  1. Bake for 1½ hours or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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.

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.

  1. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Barley + wheattop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together185 recipes

    Shared aroma: isoamyl acetate (banana, fruity).

  3. Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

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

  4. Barley + raisintop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together57 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 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

Barley flour
Provides the base structure and a dense, hearty crumb with earthy flavor.
Wheat flour
Supplies gluten that gives the loaf structure and holds its shape while baking.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the loaf rises and becomes lighter.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to add lift and help browning.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep color to the crumb.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness as it sets.

The step that matters

Mixing the batter until just combined. Overmixing wheat flour develops gluten, which can make the loaf tough and dense. Stopping once the dry ingredients are moistened keeps the crumb tender.

“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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