Name: Graham Nut Bread
Ingredients: 2 cups Graham flour; ½ cup sour milk; ⅓ cup molasses; 1 cup chopped nuts; 2 teaspoons baking soda; ¼ teaspoon salt; 1½ cups all-purpose flour

Why it works: Flour and nuts are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,180 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Graham Nut 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.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make and bake the batter

In a large bowl, combine the Graham flour, sour milk, molasses, chopped nuts, baking soda, salt, and all-purpose flour. Mix until well combined.
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for one hour or until 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.

Flour + nutstop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,180 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 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 + nutstop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together982 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked 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

Graham flour: Provides the bulk and the coarse, hearty structure of the loaf.
All-purpose flour: Adds gluten-forming structure so the loaf holds its shape.
Sour milk: Its acidity reacts with the baking soda to make the bread rise.
Baking soda: Reacts with the acidic sour milk to release gas and lift the loaf.
Molasses: Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep color to the crumb.
Chopped nuts: Add texture and crunch throughout the loaf.