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Bread

Currant Bread

A sweet bread with currants, raisins, spices, and lard, baked after two rises.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Currant Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the sponge

  1. Sift together 3 quarts flour, 2 tablespoons salt, and 3 cups sugar.

  2. Add 1 grated nutmeg, 1 teaspoon each of cinnamon and allspice, 1 box currants, and 1 box seeded raisins.

  3. Make a sponge as for light bread, and set to rise in the morning.

Make the dough

  1. At night, mix in the dry ingredients, 1 pound lard, and 3 eggs.

  2. Let rise overnight.

  3. Knead well and let rise again.

  4. Knead again, shape into loaves, and let rise.

Bake and keep

  1. Bake for 1 hour in a moderate oven.

  2. If kept in a damp place, it will keep fresh a long time.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

667Calories
20 gProtein
8 gFat
129 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Allspice1 tsp ground (1.9g)5
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

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

By Martin, Maria Ewing, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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.

  1. Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,917 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,536 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  3. Nutmeg + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,331 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  4. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,390 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

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 loaves their structure and chew.
Eggs
Add richness and help bind the dough, contributing to its structure.
Lard (in the method)
Adds fat that tenderises the crumb and softens its texture.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.

The step that matters

Knead well and let rise again. Kneading develops the gluten that traps the gas from the yeast. If the dough is under-kneaded, it rises poorly and the loaves turn out dense and crumbly.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisin, egg, allspice):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Lemonfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisin, egg, allspice. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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