Why it works: Flour and milk 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 ↓
Wheat Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Sift nine cups flour, two tablespoons salt, and three large iron spoons sugar together.
Add lard the size of a walnut, one quart of milk or lukewarm water, and two cakes yeast dissolved in a little of the water.
Mix to form a soft batter and set to rise.
When risen, mix thoroughly, add two cups sifted flour, and knead to stiff dough.
Let rise.
Shape and bake
When risen, shape into loaves and bake for three-quarters of an hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 4 of 6 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 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.
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.
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, making the dough rise and become airy.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, and its sugars brown lightly in the oven.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning.
- Lard (in the method)
- Adds fat, which tenderizes the crumb and softens the texture.
The step that matters
Kneading to a stiff dough after the first rise. Kneading develops the gluten network that traps the gas from the yeast. Adding the extra flour too early or kneading too little leaves the loaves dense and poorly risen.
“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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