Why it works: Molasses and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,225 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Mix the batter
Dissolve the baking soda in hot water.
Mix the oat porridge, cornmeal, molasses, sugar, yeast, milk, and salt thoroughly.
Pour the mixture into well-oiled bake pans.
Rise and steam
Let it rise for 9 hours.
Steam for 3.5 hours.
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 + sugartop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,225 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Oat porridge
- Provides the bulk and body of the loaf, giving it a soft, moist crumb.
- Cornmeal
- Adds structure and a coarse, hearty texture to the bread.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour, and moisture, and its acidity reacts with the baking soda.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in molasses to release gas, helping the bread rise and lighten.
- Yeast
- Ferments the sugars during the long rise, producing gas that leavens the loaf.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and richness, softening the crumb and helping browning.
The step that matters
Oil the bake pans well. The batter is wet and sticky, so well-oiled pans let the steamed loaf release cleanly without tearing or sticking to the sides.
“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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