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Bread

Brown Bread

A steamed bread made with cornmeal, shredded wheat crumbs, molasses, milk, and baking soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Brown Bread

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 ↓

Brown Bread

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Dissolve the baking soda in cold water.

  2. In a large bowl, combine cornmeal, shredded wheat crumbs, salt, molasses, and milk.

  3. Add the dissolved baking soda to the mixture and stir well.

Steam

  1. Pour the batter into a greased steaming dish.

  2. Steam for 3½ hours.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,418 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  2. Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Wheat + molassestop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together702 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

Baking soda
Reacts with the molasses's acidity to lighten the batter and help it rise.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture to the batter.
Cornmeal
Provides the main body and grainy texture of the cornbread.
Shredded wheat crumbs
Adds structure and bulk that helps hold the batter together.
Milk
Hydrates the dry ingredients and contributes moisture and richness.

The step that matters

Dissolve the baking soda in cold water before mixing. Baking soda must be fully dissolved so it reacts evenly with the acidic molasses throughout the batter. Undissolved pockets can cause uneven rise and patchy 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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