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Bread

Oarse Bread

A yeast-raised bread of seconds flour, coarse cornmeal and molasses, mixed to a thick batter, risen and baked until golden.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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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 ↓

Oarse Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, combine the seconds flour, coarse cornmeal, and molasses.

  2. Add warm water gradually until you achieve a thick batter.

  3. Stir in the hop yeast until well mixed.

  4. Cover the bowl and let the mixture rise until light.

Bake

  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).

  2. Bake the risen batter in the hot oven until golden.

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. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Seconds flour
Provides the main structure that holds the bread together as it bakes.
Coarse cornmeal
Adds a gritty, crumbly texture and a slightly sturdier crumb.
Molasses
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown deeply in the oven.
Hop yeast
Produces gas as it ferments, lifting the batter so the bread rises and becomes light.

The step that matters

Let the batter rise until light. The yeast needs time to ferment and produce gas, which raises the batter. Rising too briefly leaves a dense loaf, and the dough must be covered so it does not dry out.

“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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