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Bread

Bran Bread

A yeast‑leavened bread made with bran, flour, molasses, shortening, and yeast.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Norton, Caroline Trask · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Molasses and flour 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 ↓

Bran Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the dough

  1. Soften half cake of compressed yeast in one cup and a half of water.

  2. Add one cup and a half of scalded and cooled milk.

  3. Add one tablespoonful of shortening and teaspoonful of salt.

  4. Add two tablespoonfuls of molasses.

  5. Add two cups of bran and three cups of white flour (one of Graham and two of white flour may be used).

  6. Mix all together thoroughly.

Bake

  1. Turn into two bread pans.

  2. Bake until light, about sixty minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

615Calories
13 gProtein
13 gFat
110 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Cakenot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Norton, Caroline Trask. 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. See the original page.

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. Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Flour + breadtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together10,383 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Molasses + breadtop 31% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked 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

White flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the loaf its structure and crumb.
Compressed yeast
Produces carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough rise and turn light.
Bran
Adds fibre and a coarser texture, and absorbs liquid, which firms the dough.
Molasses
Provides sweetness and flavour, and helps the crust brown.
Milk (in the method)
Adds moisture, softness and richness to the dough.

The step that matters

Bake until light. Bread must be baked long enough for the yeast-raised structure to set and the crumb to dry out. Underbaking leaves a gummy, dense centre, while the dough's rise depends on the yeast's gas production having been allowed to work 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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