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Bread

Gluten Bread

A whole wheat loaf made with yeast, molasses, and water, baked at 350°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Gluten Bread

Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Gluten Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the sponge

  1. In the evening, mix 3 cups of flour, 1½ cups of water, and the yeast to make a sponge.

  2. Let the sponge sit for about 2 hours.

Mix and rise

  1. At around 9 PM, add the remaining water and flour, salt, and molasses.

  2. Knead in the extra ½ cup of flour until smooth and soft.

  3. Set the dough aside to rise overnight.

Shape and bake

  1. In the morning, shape the dough into 2 loaves and let them rise until doubled in size.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175 °C) for about 50 minutes.

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 + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  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

Whole wheat flour
Provides the main structure of the loaves through gluten and gives a hearty, nutty texture.
Yeast
Ferments the sponge and dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and flavour and helps the crust brown during baking.

The step that matters

Overnight rise. The dough must rise slowly and fully overnight so the yeast can develop flavour and gas. Letting it rise too little or too long can leave the loaves dense or collapsed.

“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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