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 ↓
Brown 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
Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°C).
Mix the batter
In a bowl, mix the Roman meal, graham flour, and whole wheat flour.
In another bowl, combine molasses and buttermilk.
Dissolve the baking soda in hot water and add it to the molasses mixture.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan.
Bake for about 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
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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Flour + buttermilktop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,721 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Molasses + buttermilktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together526 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Flour + wheattop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Wheat + buttermilktop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together226 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidic buttermilk and molasses to produce gas that lifts the loaf.
- Buttermilk
- Its acidity activates the baking soda and adds tenderness and moisture to the crumb.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture, and contributes acidity to the reaction.
- Whole wheat flour
- Provides the main structure, with bran adding a coarser, denser texture.
- Graham flour
- Adds structure and a coarser, nutty texture alongside the other flours.
The step that matters
Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just mixed. Once the liquids meet the flour, gluten begins to form and gas is released from the baking soda. Overmixing toughens the crumb and wastes lift, so stop as soon as no dry streaks remain.
“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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