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Bread

Steamed Brown Bread

A steamed bread made with flour, soda, molasses, milk, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Steamed Brown Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Combine one cup white flour, two cups Graham flour, two cups Indian meal, one teaspoon soda, one cup molasses, three and a half cups milk, and a little salt, then beat well.

  2. If using sweet milk, replace soda with baking powder.

Steam and finish

  1. Steam for four hours.

  2. After steaming, set into oven for fifteen minutes.

  3. Serve warm with butter.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

711Calories
21 gProtein
9 gFat
135 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Molasses1 tbsp (20g)58
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49

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

By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Soda
Reacts with the acid in molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter and darkens it.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and dark color, and supplies the acid that soda needs.
Milk
Provides liquid that hydrates the flours and keeps the bread moist.
Graham flour
Adds body, a coarser texture, and a nutty flavor to the loaf.
Indian meal (in the method)
Adds a coarse, crumbly texture and structure to the loaf.

The step that matters

Replacing soda with baking powder when using sweet milk. Soda needs an acid, such as the one in molasses, to release gas and lift the bread. Sweet milk has little acid, so baking powder, which carries its own acid, is needed to leaven the batter.

“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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