Why it works: Bread and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,466 recipes. Both carry 2-undecenal, which smells sweet. The science ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Make the batter
Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water and mix it with the sweet milk.
In a large bowl, combine the salt, bread sponge, molasses, and the milk mixture.
Stir in enough graham flour to make a thick batter that can be poured.
Bake
Grease your baking pans well and pour the mixture into them.
Allow the batter to rise, then bake at 350°F (175°C) for about an hour or until light.
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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Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Molasses + flourtop 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).
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Bread + flourtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together10,383 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Bread sponge
- Provides the fermented starter that makes the loaf rise and gives it an airy crumb.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses and milk to release gas, adding lift and helping the crumb open up.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a darker color through browning during baking.
- Graham flour
- Forms the structure of the loaf and sets the batter's thickness as it bakes.
The step that matters
Pouring a thick, pourable batter. Enough graham flour must be stirred in to thicken the batter without making it stiff. Too little flour gives a loose batter that spreads and bakes heavy; too much makes a dense, dry loaf that will not rise well.
“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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