Name: Bran Bread
Ingredients: two cups of bran; two cups of flour; two cups of sour milk; one cup of brown sugar; one cup of chopped raisins; one teaspoon of soda; one half teaspoon of salt; two small loaves

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 ↓

Bran Bread

two small loaves

Ingredients

Directions

Combine two cups of bran, two cups of flour, two cups of sour milk, one cup of brown sugar, one cup of chopped raisins, one teaspoon of soda, and one half teaspoon of salt.
Bake in a moderate oven for one hour.
The bake will produce two small loaves.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

715Calories

22 gProtein

10 gFat

136 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

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

By Chicago. Bethany union church. Woman's society. [from old catalog]. 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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,481 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together7,155 recipes

Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

Flour and milk 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

Bran: Adds fibre-rich bulk and a hearty, nutty texture to the crumb.
Flour: Provides the structure that holds the loaves together.
Sour milk: Its acidity reacts with the soda to help the loaves rise.
Brown sugar: Adds sweetness, molasses flavour and moisture to the bread.
Soda: Reacts with the acidic sour milk to produce gas that lifts the batter.