Name: Brown Bread Steamed
Ingredients: 3 cups graham flour; 1 cup corn meal; 2 cups sour milk; 1 cup raisins; 1 pound baking powder cans about % full; 2 level teaspoons soda dissolved in hot water

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 ↓

Brown Bread Steamed

Ingredients

Directions

Mix and fill

Combine 3 cups graham flour, 1 cup cornmeal, 2 cups sour milk, y^ cup molasses, i/o cup sugar, 2 level teaspoons soda dissolved in hot water, and 1 cup raisins (if desired).
Fill the mixture into 1 pound baking powder cans about % full.

Steam and dry

Steam for 2i/o hours.
If the top is moist when done, put it in the oven long enough to dry off.

Unmold

Hold the cans bottom side up while hot and the bread will gradually slide out.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

792Calories

24 gProtein

11 gFat

153 gCarbs

Counts 5 of 6 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Sour Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Corn	1/2 cup kernels (82g)	77
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Water	not in our table	0

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

By Warren, Pa. Presbyterian church. Second auxiliary missionary society. [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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Corn + milktop 10% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,955 recipes

Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,165 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together180 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Graham flour: Gives the bread its hearty, coarse texture and nutty flavor.
Cornmeal (in the method): Adds body and a grainy texture to the crumb.
Sour milk: Its acidity reacts with the soda and adds a gentle tang.
Soda: Reacts with the acid in sour milk to release gas that lifts the batter.
Molasses (in the method): Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color.
Raisins: Add pockets of sweetness and chewy bites.

The step that matters

Checking the top when done. Steam condenses on the surface and keeps the top wet, so the bread may look finished while still moist. Drying it briefly in the oven removes that surface moisture and keeps the top from being gummy.

Swap the raisin

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, corn, milk):

Vanillafits about as well
Raisinthe original
Coconutfits less well
Figfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, corn, milk. 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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Brown Bread Steamed