Why it works: Milk and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,243 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Quick Graham Mush
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
Dissolve two teaspoonfuls of soda in a little hot water.
Add one and a half pints sour milk, half cup New Orleans molasses, and a little salt, then stir in as much graham flour as can be stirred in with a spoon.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a well greased pan.
Put the pan in the oven as soon as it is mixed, and bake for two hours.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| 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.
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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Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sour milk
- Supplies liquid 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.
- New orleans molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark color and rich flavor to the bread.
- Graham flour (in the method)
- Provides the main structure and body of the bread as it is stirred in.
The step that matters
Baking right after mixing. Soda begins reacting with the acid in the sour milk as soon as it is combined. Waiting before baking lets the gas escape, so the bread may rise less and turn out dense.
“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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