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Bread

Date Bread

A quick nut bread made with dates, walnuts or nuts, flour, sugar, milk, eggs and baking powder, baked in a loaf pan.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 24 ingredients
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Date Bread

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Date Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Beat the egg.

  2. Add the milk.

  3. Sift together the flour, sugar, salt and baking powder.

  4. Add the dry mixture to the egg and milk.

  5. Stir in the nut meats, mixing thoroughly.

  6. Let stand 10 minutes after mixing.

Prepare and rise

  1. Pour into a greased and floured pan.

  2. Sift the flour into the sugar, salt and baking powder, then stir in the sweet milk and unbeaten eggs.

  3. Add the nuts and raisins.

  4. Let rise 20 minutes before baking.

  5. Mix all ingredients together.

  6. Mold into pans and let rise 20 minutes.

  7. Let stand 20 minutes.

Bake

  1. Bake 20 or 25 minutes in a moderate oven.

  2. Bake 40 minutes.

  3. Bake 30 or 45 minutes.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

819Calories
29 gProtein
17 gFat
137 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Grape1/2 cup (76g)62
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Walnut1 walnut half (4g)26
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 Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog]. 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.

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Nuts + walnuttop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together284 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Nuts + raisintop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together490 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  4. Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,466 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).

  5. Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour
Forms the structure that holds the loaf together as it bakes.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure and richness to the crumb.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter so the loaf rises and becomes light.
Milk
Hydrates the flour and adds moisture and softness to the crumb.
Nuts
Add texture and a toasty flavor to the loaf.
Raisins
Add moisture and concentrated sweetness throughout the loaf.

Swap the nuts

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, milk, raisin, egg, walnut, bread):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Pistachiofits better
  4. Nutsthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, milk, raisin, egg, walnut, bread. 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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