Why it works: Milk and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,243 recipes. Both carry furaneol, which smells caramel, strawberry. The science ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sponge
Dissolve half a yeast cake in tepid water.
Scald the milk and add the half pint of boiling water, set away to cool.
Put the flour into the bread pan, add milk and water when lukewarm and the dissolved yeast; beat well.
Shape and bake
In the morning add half a cup of Porto Rico molasses and Graham flour enough to knead well, let it rise for three hours, knead again, make into loaves and set in a warm place to rise.
When ready bake in a moderate oven for nearly an hour.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Molasses | 1 tbsp (20g) | 58 |
| 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.
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.
-
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Graham flour (in the method)
- Provides the coarse bran and wheat texture that gives this bread its body and structure.
- Yeast (in the method)
- Produces gas during the long rises, which leavens the dough and gives it its open crumb.
- Milk
- Adds richness and softness to the dough, tenderizing the crumb and aiding browning.
- Porto rico molasses
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness, depth of flavour and some extra browning.
The step that matters
Kneading in the Graham flour. Graham flour is added gradually until the dough is kneadable. Too much flour makes the loaves dense and dry, while too little leaves the dough sticky and weak, so the gluten cannot trap the gas from the yeast.
“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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