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Bread

Water Bread

A yeast bread made with boiling water, butter, lard, sugar, salt, yeast, and flour.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Water Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the dough

  1. Combine butter, lard, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

  2. Pour in boiling water.

  3. Let it cool to lukewarm.

  4. Add the dissolved yeast and 5 cups of flour.

  5. Stir until mixed.

  6. Add the remaining flour and mix.

  7. Turn onto a floured surface.

  8. Knead until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes.

  9. Place dough in a clean bowl.

  10. Cover with a cloth.

  11. Let rise overnight at 65°F (18°C).

Shape and bake

  1. Cut the dough.

  2. Turn the dough several times with a knife to check fermentation.

  3. Knead again.

  4. Shape into loaves or biscuits.

  5. Place in greased pans, filling them half full.

  6. Cover.

  7. Let rise until doubled in size.

  8. Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) until golden brown.

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.

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. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
Provides the gluten network that traps gas and gives the loaf its structure.
Yeast
Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, making the dough rise and become airy.
Butter
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and contributes richness and flavor.
Lard
Adds fat that softens the crumb and keeps the bread tender.
Sugar
Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and browning during baking.

The step that matters

Checking the cooled dough before adding flour. Water must be cooled to lukewarm before the yeast is added, because boiling or very hot liquid kills yeast and stops the rise. Kneading to smooth and elastic develops the gluten needed for structure.

“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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