Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
White Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderately hot oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Dissolve the yeast in 2 cups of water.
Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 cups of sifted flour; beat until smooth.
Gradually add the remaining flour until a firm dough forms.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Place in a well-greased dish, cover, and let rise overnight (about 9 hours).
Shape and bake
In the morning, shape the dough into loaves and place in greased tins.
Let rise until doubled in size, then bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 40 minutes.
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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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes it rise and become airy.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the loaves their structure.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning.
- Lard
- Adds fat, which tenderizes the crumb and softens the texture.
The step that matters
Shaping and the second rise. The dough must be allowed to rise until doubled before baking. Under-proofed loaves stay dense, while over-proofed dough can collapse in the oven as the gluten weakens.
“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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