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Bread

Barley and Wheat Bread

A moist bread made with barley and wheat flour, molasses, raisins, and leavening agents.

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

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

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, and salt.

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

  3. Add the molasses, egg, and milk into the hole. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.

  4. Pour the batter into a greased baking 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. Milk + wheattop 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
Gives the bread its nutty, earthy flavour and a denser crumb than wheat flour alone.
Wheat flour
Provides gluten-forming structure so the loaf holds together better than barley flour alone.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, lifting the loaf as it bakes.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas, aiding rise and encouraging browning.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark colour to the crumb.
Egg
Binds the batter and adds structure and richness to the crumb.

The step that matters

Bake until a toothpick comes out clean. Quick breads with molasses and little fat can stay gummy in the centre if underbaked. The toothpick test confirms the interior has set, while overbaking dries the crumb.

“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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