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Bread

Graham Bread with Nuts and Raisins

A loaf of Graham bread with raisins and walnuts, baked in a loaf pan.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Graham Bread with Nuts and Raisins

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure. The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).

Make the batter

  1. In a large bowl, mix the white flour, graham flour, salt, and baking soda.

  2. Add the milk, syrup, and sugar, and stir until combined.

  3. Fold in the chopped raisins and walnuts.

Bake

  1. Pour the batter into a loaf pan and bake for about 45-60 minutes, or until a toothpick 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.

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.

  1. Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,075 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Syrup + sugartop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Raisin + walnuttop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together647 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

  5. Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

White flour
Provides the main structure as gluten forms and sets the loaf's crumb.
Graham flour
Adds coarser bran and germ particles, giving a denser, nuttier texture.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidity of sour milk to release gas, helping the loaf rise.
Sour milk
Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds moisture and tang.
Syrup
Adds sweetness and moisture, and helps the crust brown during baking.
Walnuts
Add crunch and a rich, toasty flavor that contrasts with the soft crumb.

The step that matters

Combining the baking soda with the milk. Baking soda needs an acid, such as sour milk, to release carbon dioxide. If the acid is missing or the batter sits too long before baking, the loaf may rise poorly.

Swap the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, milk, syrup, sugar, raisin):

  1. Almondfits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Pistachiofits better
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, milk, syrup, sugar, raisin. 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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