Why it works: Walnut and dates work together. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 302 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Nut Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, walnuts, and dates.
In another bowl, mix the beaten eggs and milk.
Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Pour the batter into a greased pan and let it rise for 20 minutes.
Bake
Bake for 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
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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Walnut + datestop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together302 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
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Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 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 + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Dates + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together470 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
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
- Flour
- Forms the structure that holds the loaf together as it bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter, helping the loaf rise and become light.
- Eggs
- Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
- Milk
- Hydrates the flour and dry ingredients, giving the batter its moisture and loose texture.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown.
- Walnuts
- Add crunch and a rich, toasted flavor throughout the loaf.
The step that matters
Pour the batter into a greased pan and let it rise for 20 minutes. Baking powder starts releasing gas as soon as it is wet, so the batter should be panned and rested as directed, then baked promptly. Greasing the pan keeps the loaf from sticking when it is turned out.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, sugar, dates, egg, milk):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Pecansfits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, sugar, dates, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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