Why it works: Flour and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,429 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Brown 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.
Prepare the dough
Prepare a sponge as for white bread.
In a bread pan, combine 2 parts brown flour, ⅓ part white flour, and 1 handful of cornmeal.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the mixture.
Wet the mixture with the sponge and mix well.
Add ½ teacup of molasses for a fair-sized loaf.
If the dough is too stiff, add a little luke-warm water to achieve a soft consistency.
Rise and shape
Knead the dough thoroughly and set it aside to rise for a longer time than white bread.
After it has risen, knead again and shape into loaves for a second rising.
Bake and serve
When the dough is light, bake steadily at 350°F (175°C) for longer than white bread.
Avoid cutting the bread while it is hot.
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.
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + breadtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,383 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + breadtop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together529 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Flour and bread barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 10,383 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
- Brown flour
- Provides the main structure and the bran-rich, nutty flavour of the loaf.
- White flour
- Adds gluten strength so the loaf rises and holds its shape better.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
- Sponge
- Starts fermentation so the dough becomes light and airy as it rises.
The step that matters
Rising the dough fully before baking. Yeast needs time to produce gas and build gluten, and the heavy brown flour rises more slowly than white. Under-proofed dough gives a dense loaf, so wait until it is clearly light before baking.
“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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