Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Whole Wheat and Graham 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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make and bake the batter
In a large bowl, combine the whole wheat flour, molasses, sour milk, raisins, and baking powder. Mix until well combined.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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.
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.
-
Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Wheat + raisintop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
-
Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
-
Molasses + milktop 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
- Whole wheat flour
- Forms the structure of the loaf and gives it its hearty, wheaty flavour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a dark colour to the crumb.
- Sour milk
- Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking powder to help the loaf rise.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the loaf rises and becomes lighter in texture.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the loaf.
The step that matters
Checking doneness with a toothpick. Whole wheat batters are dense and moist, so the centre can stay gummy even when the crust looks done. Testing the centre with a toothpick confirms the crumb has set before the loaf is removed from the oven.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, molasses, milk):
- Figfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinthe original
- Blueberryfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, molasses, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
More whole wheat bread recipes
You might also like
Wheat Bread65 recipes
Barley Wheat Bread6 recipes
Cornbread345 recipes
Bread Pudding336 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.