Why it works: Wheat and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,418 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Whole Wheat 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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.
Prepare the dough
In a large bowl, combine white flour and enough whole wheat flour to knead.
Scald the milk and add it to the flour mixture.
Stir in sugar and salt.
Dissolve the yeast cake in a little warm water and add it to the mixture.
Knead the dough until smooth and let it rise until doubled in size.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into a loaf and place it in a greased pan.
Let it rise again until it has doubled, then bake at 350°F (175°C) for about 30-40 minutes.
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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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 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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Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Whole wheat flour
- Provides the bulk of the structure and a nutty, hearty texture.
- White flour
- Adds gluten-forming strength so the loaf holds its shape and rises well.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and softness to the crumb and helps browning.
- Yeast cake
- Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, making the dough rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a little sweetness and browning.
The step that matters
Letting the dough rise until doubled. Yeast needs enough time and warmth to produce gas. Under-proofed dough gives a dense loaf, while over-proofed dough can collapse or lose structure in the oven.
“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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