Why it works: Rye and wheat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 404 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Blanche Kammerer
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the sponge
Raise one yeast cake in half cup of milk and a little sugar.
Sift together two pounds of rye flour and one pound of wheat flour, or if rye flour is dark use half of each.
Heat one pint of milk and one of water, add raised yeast and enough flour to make sponge.
Set in warm place to raise until full of bubbles.
Make and shape the dough
Then add one tablespoon of salt, a little caraway seed and enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Turn out on floured board, knead well, set aside in warm place to raise.
Form into loaves or one big round loaf, let raise again.
Bake
Brush with beaten egg and bake small loaves one hour and large loaf one and one-quarter hours.
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 |
| Rye | 1 slice (32g) | 83 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
| Wheat | 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.
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Rye + wheattop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together404 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Rye + flourtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,320 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + ryetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together918 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Rye flour
- Gives the bread its dense, hearty structure and dark, earthy flavor.
- Wheat flour
- Adds gluten so the dough can trap gas and hold its shape.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sponge, producing gas that makes the dough rise and turn airy.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the dough and helps browning on the crust.
- Salt
- Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough's flavor.
The step that matters
Setting the sponge until full of bubbles. The sponge must ferment fully before the rest of the flour and salt are added. Under-fermented sponge gives a dense loaf, since yeast needs time to produce the gas that lifts the dough.
“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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