Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Dissolve baking soda in hot water.
In a bowl, mix sour milk, molasses, salt, flour, cornmeal, and graham flour until well combined to form a stiff batter.
If desired, fold in raisins.
Steam and bake
Steam the batter for 3 hours.
After steaming, bake for 15 minutes.
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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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + coffeetop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,202 recipes
Shared aroma: 4-heptenal (creamy, biscuit).
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Molasses + raisintop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,577 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + raisintop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,155 recipes
Shared aroma: decanoic acid (acides aroma).
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
- Sour milk
- Provides moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and the dark color and deep flavor of the bread.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acid in the sour milk to produce gas that makes the bread rise.
- Flour
- Builds the main structure that holds the bread together as it sets.
- Cornmeal
- Adds a slightly coarse, crumbly texture and helps give the bread body.
- Graham flour
- Contributes a nutty flavor and a more textured, hearty crumb.
The step that matters
Steam the batter for the full time. Steaming cooks the batter gently with moist heat, so it sets without drying out. The soda reacts with the sour milk as soon as they meet, so the batter should go into the steamer promptly after mixing.
“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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