Name: Indian Loaf
Ingredients: 1 quart sweet milk; 2 cups Indian meal; ½ cup all-purpose flour; 1 teacup (about ⅔ cup) molasses; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon baking soda

Why it works: Milk and flour 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 ↓

Indian Loaf

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).

Mix and bake

In a large bowl, stir together the sweet milk, Indian meal, flour, molasses, salt, and baking soda until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for a long time until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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.

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.

Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together10,429 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together7,243 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Milk and flour 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

Indian meal: Provides the main structure and body of the loaf as a coarse cornmeal-style starch.
All-purpose flour: Adds gluten-forming protein that helps the loaf hold its shape.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture and deep brown color to the crumb.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic molasses to produce gas that lifts the batter.
Sweet milk: Hydrates the meal and flour so the batter forms and bakes through.

“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.