Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Wheat Bread
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 dough
In a large bowl, combine the wheat flour, warm water, salt, molasses, yeast, baking soda, and rich milk.
Knead the mixture well, adding more sifted flour as needed to achieve a soft consistency.
Shape and bake
Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
Shape the dough into muffins and place them on a buttered baking sheet.
Bake until golden brown, being careful not to let the mixture become tart.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,243 recipes
Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Flour and milk 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
- Wheat flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough as it is kneaded.
- Yeast
- Produces gas that makes the dough rise and become lighter.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a deeper color to the bread.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to add lift and help browning.
- Rich milk
- Adds fat and softness, giving a tender crumb and browned crust.
The step that matters
Bake until golden brown without letting the mixture turn tart. Baking soda reacts with acidic molasses and yeast activity can sour the dough if it sits too long, so the dough should be baked promptly once shaped, and the bake watched so it browns without drying or turning sour.
“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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