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Russian Bread

A braided loaf made with flour, yeast, milk, butter, lard, eggs, sugar, cinnamon, and raisins.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Hamilton, Ohio. First Methodist Episcopal church. [from old catalog] · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 25 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk 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 ↓

Russian Bread

2 loaves

Ingredients

Directions

Make the dough

  1. Dissolve yeast in milk.

  2. Add 1 cup of the flour. Mix until smooth. Let stand until light.

  3. Add eggs, sugar, butter, raisins, pinch of salt, remainder of flour, and sprinkling of cinnamon. Mix to a stiff dough and knead thoroughly.

  4. Let stand until twice the amount.

Shape and bake

  1. Divide into 2 equal parts for 2 loaves. Cut each batch into 3 equal parts and roll into strips 12 inches long, tapering to a point at each end.

  2. Press ends together, braid, place in buttered baking sheets, cover, and let stand until light.

  3. Bake 1/2 to 3/4 of an hour.

  4. If preferred, ice when cool with powdered sugar mixed with a few drops of hot water.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

954Calories
28 gProtein
39 gFat
122 gCarbs

Counts 8 of 9 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Lard1 tbsp (12.8g)115
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Cinnamon1 tsp ground (2.6g)6
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Cakenot in our table0

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.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,341 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  4. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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 gluten network that gives the braided loaves their structure.
Yeast
Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
Eggs
Add structure and richness to the dough and help it set when baked.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and richer flavor.
Lard
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until light and doubled. Yeast gas must expand the gluten network fully before baking; underproofed dough stays dense, while overproofed dough can collapse and lose structure in the oven.

“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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