Why it works: Flour and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,429 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a steady oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Sift the white flour with the salt and mix it with the unsifted Graham flour.
Stir in the yeast, warm water, and molasses to form a soft dough.
If the dough is too stiff, add a little more warm water.
Let the dough rise overnight.
Shape and bake
In the morning, knead the dough well and shape it into small loaves.
Let the loaves rise for 2 hours.
Bake in a steady oven at 350°F (175°C).
Do not cut the bread while it is hot.
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.
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Graham flour
- Gives the bread its coarse, nutty texture and wholesome flavour.
- White flour
- Adds gluten structure so the loaves hold their shape and rise.
- Yeast cake
- Produces gas during fermentation, making the dough rise and turn airy.
- Molasses
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness, colour and moisture to the crumb.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise overnight. Slow fermentation lets yeast develop flavour and gas steadily. Too short a rise leaves the loaves dense, and an overproofed dough can collapse.
“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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