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 ↓
Graham 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.
Prepare the dough
In a bowl, mix the Graham flour, baking soda, yeast, and salt.
Add warm water to form a stiff dough.
Rise and bake
Let the dough rise in a cool place for about 3 hours.
After rising, add the molasses and let it rise for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake for about 1.5 hours.
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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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, with its bran giving a coarser texture.
- Yeast
- Produces gas during the rise, leavening the dough so it becomes light.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic molasses to release gas, adding further lift and aiding browning.
- New orleans molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture, and a dark color and rich flavor to the crumb.
The step that matters
Adding the molasses after the first rise. Molasses is added only once the dough has risen, so the yeast is not weighed down before gas builds. Mixing it in fully keeps the dough evenly moist and sweet throughout.
“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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