Why it works: Corn and wheat match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 465 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Brown Bread, Biscuits, Etc
Ingredients
Directions
Brown Bread steamed
If you have a small family, or wish to have your brown bread look very pretty, steam it in one pound baking powder cans.
Combine one and one-half cupfuls of cornmeal, one cupful of wheat flour, one-half cupful of graham flour, one cupful of sweet milk, one cupful of sour milk, one-half cupful of molasses, two eggs, a little salt, and one teaspoon of soda.
Steam for three hours, or set the pail containing the mixture in a kettle of cold water, and after it begins to boil do not let it cease boiling for three hours.
For Brown Bread No. 2, combine three cupfuls of sour milk, three-quarter cupful of molasses, three cupfuls of cornmeal, one cupful of wheat flour, one-half cupful of graham, two teaspoonfuls of saleratus, a little salt.
Steam for three and one-half hours.
For Brown Bread No. 3, combine one cupful of sweet milk, two cupfuls of sour milk, three cupfuls of cornmeal, two cupfuls of wheat flour, one cupful of molasses, one teaspoonful of soda.
Steam for three hours.
For Brown Bread No. 4, combine two cupfuls of sweet milk, one cupful of sour milk, one cupful of molasses, one cupful of wheat flour, one cupful of graham, one heaping cupful of cornmeal, two teaspoonfuls of soda, one cupful of salt.
Steam for four hours.
Raised biscuit and corn bread
For Biscuit No. 2, combine one quart of warm milk, one-half cupful of yeast, flour to make a stiff batter, two eggs beaten light, a piece of butter the size of an egg, one-half cupful of sugar; mix up stiff and set to rise a second time.
Make into biscuit, and when light again bake.
For Brown Corn Bread (Raised), scald two cupfuls of cornmeal with enough boiling water to wet through thoroughly.
Add one-half cupful of New Orleans molasses.
When cool, add one and one-half cupfuls of hop yeast bread sponge and a little salt; stir and put to rise.
When light, add wheat flour enough to knead into a loaf; let it rise again.
Bake for an hour and a quarter.
For Biscuit No. 1, scald one pint of sweet milk, add butter the size of an egg; let it cool, then add one teacupful of yeast.
Put two quarts of flour in a dish, pour the milk, yeast and butter in the center of the flour and let it stand overnight without stirring.
Next morning stir enough of the flour in to make a sponge.
When light, mix in the rest of the flour and more if needed to knead into a loaf.
When light again, make into biscuit.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 9 of 11 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 9 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Sour Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Wheat | not in our table | 0 |
| Hop | 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.
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.
-
Corn + wheattop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together465 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Milk + wheattop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Wheat + breadtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together209 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
-
Milk + breadtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Cornmeal (in the method)
- Forms the bulk and crumb structure, giving brown bread its characteristic coarse texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color and moisture to the loaf.
- Sour milk
- Reacts with soda or saleratus to lighten the batter and adds tenderness.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure and richness.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during rising, giving the biscuit and corn bread their light, airy crumb.
- Wheat flour
- Provides gluten for structure, holding the loaf together with the cornmeal.
The step that matters
Keep the water boiling during steaming. Steamed breads rely on constant steam for even cooking and rising. If the water stops boiling, the batter cooks unevenly and can turn heavy.
“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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