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Bread

Unfermented Bread

A simple loaf made from Limner's flour, tartaric acid, soda, corn flour, milk or water, baked at 400°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Corn and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,955 recipes. Both carry hexanal, which smells green, grassy. The science ↓

Unfermented Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA very hot oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).

Make the dough

  1. Thoroughly mix the Limner's flour with tartaric acid, carbonate of soda, and corn flour.

  2. Add milk or water to the mixture until well combined.

  3. If using, mix in slightly turned cream with water instead of milk.

  4. Divide the dough into three loaves.

Bake

  1. Place the loaves on a floured baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

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. Corn + milktop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,955 recipes

    Shared aroma: hexanal (green, grassy).

  2. Flour + corntop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  5. Flour + creamtop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together30,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetaldehyde (pungent, ethereal).

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

Limner's flour
Provides the starch and protein structure that holds the loaves together.
Tartaric acid
Acid that reacts with carbonate of soda to release carbon dioxide, lifting the dough.
Carbonate of soda
Base that reacts with the tartaric acid to produce gas for rising.
Corn flour
Adds fine starch that softens crumb texture and helps the dough stay tender.
Milk or water
Hydrates the flour so the starches and proteins form a cohesive dough.

The step that matters

Mix in the milk or water until well combined. Acid and base only produce gas once they are dissolved and evenly distributed in moisture. Unmixed pockets of soda can leave dense or bitter patches, while the loaves should go into the oven promptly so the gas is trapped before it escapes.

“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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