Why it works: Milk and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Boston Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Put three teacups graham flour, two teacups cornmeal, one-half teacup molasses, one pint sour milk, one pint water, one teaspoon soda, and one teaspoon salt into a tin pail.
Cover tightly and boil for four hours in a kettle.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 5 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Sour Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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.
-
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, giving it a hearty, coarse crumb.
- Cornmeal (in the method)
- Adds a grainy texture and helps the loaf hold a moist, crumbly structure.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the bread.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the soda and tenderizes the batter.
- Soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that lightens the loaf.
The step that matters
Cover tightly and boil for four hours. The bread cooks by steam in a sealed pail, so the lid must stay tight and the water level must be kept up. Loss of steam or water can leave the loaf dry or underbaked.
“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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