Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the batter
In a bowl, mix the cornmeal, all-purpose flour, Graham flour, and molasses.
Dissolve the baking soda in the molasses and add to the mixture.
In a separate bowl, combine the baking powder with the flour and then add to the main mixture.
Stir in the sweet milk until well combined.
Steam
Pour the batter into a greased steaming mold.
Steam for 3 to 4 hours.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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.
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Corn + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,955 recipes
Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).
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Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked 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
- Cornmeal (in the method)
- Provides the bulk and coarse, hearty texture of the loaf.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lightens the loaf.
- Baking powder
- Adds extra leavening so the bread rises during steaming.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds gluten-forming structure that holds the loaf together.
The step that matters
Steam for 3 to 4 hours. Steam must stay gentle and constant for the full time, since the batter sets slowly. Letting the water boil dry or the mold stay uncovered can leave the loaf dense or uneven.
“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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