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
Prepare the dough
Prepare a good sponge as for white bread.
In a bread pan, combine brown flour, white flour, Indian meal, and salt.
Wet the mixture with the sponge. Mix well.
Add molasses.
Adjust consistency with lukewarm water if needed.
Knead the dough thoroughly.
Rise and shape
Let it rise until doubled in size.
Knead again.
Shape into loaves.
Allow for a second rise.
Bake and serve
Bake in a steady oven until done, longer than white bread. Avoid burning.
Do not cut while 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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Brown flour
- Provides the bulk of the structure and the characteristic brown, nutty flavour.
- White flour
- Adds gluten strength so the loaves rise lighter than with brown flour alone.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
- Indian meal
- Adds coarse texture and a slightly sweet corn flavour to the crumb.
The step that matters
Bake until done, longer than white bread. Brown breads contain bran and molasses, which slow heat penetration and brown faster. Baking longer at a steady heat cooks the centre through, while watching for burning keeps the crust from scorching.
“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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