Why it works: Walnut and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Nut 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 the batter
In a large bowl, mix the sugar, egg, salt, walnuts, milk, flour, and baking powder until well combined.
Let the mixture stand for 20 minutes.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake and serve
Bake for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Slice and serve with butter.
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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Walnut + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Walnut + milktop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,236 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
Milk and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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
- Flour
- Forms the main structure of the bread as its proteins set during baking.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the loaf rise and become light.
- Egg
- Adds structure and binds the batter as it sets in the oven.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and adds moisture and tenderness to the crumb.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the bread and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
- Walnuts
- Add texture and a nutty flavor throughout the loaf.
The step that matters
Checking for doneness. Baking powder leavens quickly, so the loaf can look risen while its center is still wet. Testing the center with a toothpick until it comes out clean confirms the crumb has set throughout, preventing a gummy interior.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, milk, flour):
- Almondfits better
- Milletfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, milk, flour. 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.
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