Why it works: Molasses and rye work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Rye and Indian Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Scald the Indian meal with boiling water until moist and let it sit for a few minutes.
Add enough cold water to make a batter.
Mix in the salt, dissolved yeast, molasses, and baking soda. Beat the mixture well and let it rise overnight.
Shape and bake
The next morning, stir the dough down and shape it into a loaf.
Place the loaf in a buttered and floured pan, sprinkle a little flour on top, and let it rise again.
When light, bake for 2 hours at 350°F (175°C).
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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Molasses + ryetop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together804 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Indian meal
- Forms the bulk of the loaf and, once scalded, gives a moist, sturdy crumb.
- Rye meal
- Adds structure and a dense, earthy flavour to the loaf.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the dough and lightening its texture.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep colour as the loaf browns.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity of molasses to add extra lift and help browning.
The step that matters
Scalding the Indian meal. Boiling water must fully soak the meal until it is moist; dry pockets stay gritty and absorb liquid from the dough later, affecting texture.
“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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