Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Steamed Brown 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 batter
Dissolve the baking soda in a little hot water.
Combine half of the dissolved soda with the sour milk and the other half with the molasses.
In a large bowl, mix the cornmeal, flour, sweet milk, sour milk mixture, and molasses mixture until well combined.
Steam and bake
Pour the batter into a greased steaming dish.
Steam for 3 hours.
After steaming, bake in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes until the top is browned.
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 + 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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Milk + molassestop 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
- Cornmeal
- Provides the bulk and the corn flavour and body of the bread.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds gluten-forming structure so the steamed crumb holds together.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to lift the batter.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic sour milk and molasses to produce gas that leavens the bread.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and moisture, and its acidity helps the soda react.
- Sweet milk
- Adds moisture and richness to the batter.
The step that matters
Combining the soda with the acids. The baking soda must be split and mixed into the sour milk and molasses so it reacts with their acidity while the batter is still wet. This produces the gas that lifts the bread, and waiting lets that gas escape before steaming.
“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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