Name: Nut Bread
Ingredients: 2 cups Graham flour; ½ cup warm water; 1 tablespoon white flour; ¾ cup molasses; 1½ cups sour milk; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda; ½ cup chopped nuts

Why it works: Flour and nuts are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,180 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Nut Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Dissolve the baking soda in warm water.
Chop the nuts.

Mix and bake

In a bowl, combine Graham flour, white flour, molasses, sour milk, salt, and the dissolved baking soda.
Fold in the chopped nuts.
Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 1 hour.

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.

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.

Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,180 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + nutstop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together982 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Molasses + milktop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Graham flour: Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, with a coarse, hearty texture.
Sour milk: Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that makes the bread rise.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color and flavor.