Name: Boston Brown Bread
Ingredients: one pint sweet milk; 2 cups graham flour; two cups flour; 3 cup sugar; 2 tablespoonfuls butter; 4 teaspoonfuls baking powder; 2 eggs

Why it works: Milk and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Boston Brown Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

Combine 1 pint sweet milk, 1 cup molasses, 2 cups graham flour, sifted, 1 cup cornmeal, 2 cups white flour, 1 teaspoon soda, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 cup seeded raisins, then put in baking powder cans.
Cover and steam for three hours.

Make the second mixture and bake

Combine 2 cups flour, 1-3 cups sugar, 1 cup sweet milk, 1 cup chopped pecan nuts, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoonfuls butter, 4 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon salt.
Let mixture stand 20 minutes in baking tin.
Bake for 4 hours.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

833Calories

27 gProtein

26 gFat

120 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
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 New Orleans Federation of Clubs. 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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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 main structure of the bread as its proteins set during cooking.
Graham flour: Adds a coarser texture and nutty flavor, and absorbs liquid to give body.
Milk: Provides moisture that hydrates the flour and keeps the crumb soft.
Eggs: Bind the batter and help it set into a firm, cohesive crumb.
Baking powder: Releases gas that lifts the batter so it rises and becomes airy.
Butter: Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes richness.

The step that matters

Cover and steam for three hours. Steam keeps the loaf moist while it cooks gently. Lifting the cover releases steam and can dry the surface or leave the centre underdone.

“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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Boston Brown Bread