Name: Brown Bread
Ingredients: four cups of sour milk; two teaspoonfuls of soda; a cup of molasses; one teacup of white flour

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 ↓

Brown Bread

Ingredients

four cups of sour milk
two teaspoonfuls of soda
a cup of molasses
one teacup of white flour

Directions

Combine four cups of sour milk, half a cup of molasses, one teacup of white flour, two teaspoonfuls of soda, and graham flour to make it as stiff as can be stirred with a spoon.
Beat with a spoon until very light.
Bake slowly for one hour.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

711Calories

21 gProtein

9 gFat

135 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 4 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

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

By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church. 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.

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.

Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Sour milk: Provides moisture and acidity that reacts with the soda to lift the batter.
Soda: Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to produce gas that makes the bread rise.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture and the dark brown colour of the loaf.
White flour: Provides starch and gluten-forming protein that give the loaf its structure.
Graham flour: Adds bulk and a coarse, nutty texture, stiffening the batter.

“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.