Name: Bran Gems
Ingredients: 2 cups bran; 1 cup white flour; 1 teaspoon salt; 3 tablespoons Orleans molasses; 1 teaspoon baking soda; 1½ cups buttermilk; 1 tablespoon butter

Why it works: Flour and buttermilk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,721 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Bran Gems

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Mix the batter

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
In a bowl, mix together the bran, white flour, salt, molasses, and baking soda.
Stir in the buttermilk and melted butter until well combined.
Pour the batter into a greased baking dish.

Bake

Bake for one 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.

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 + buttermilktop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,721 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Molasses + buttermilktop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together526 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Buttermilk + buttertop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,674 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Bran: Adds fiber-rich bulk and a coarse, hearty texture to the crumb.
White flour: Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
Buttermilk: Adds moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to help the gems rise.
Baking soda: Reacts with the buttermilk's acidity to release carbon dioxide, lifting the batter.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep brown color with a rich flavor.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a more tender texture.

“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.