Why it works: Flour and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,429 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a fairly hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Mix the Graham flour, all-purpose flour, and salt together.
Add the molasses, yeast, and warm water, and beat well for 20 minutes.
Cover the bowl and let the dough rest overnight.
Shape and bake
In the morning, shape the dough into 2 or 3 loaves.
Let the loaves rise until nearly double in size.
Bake in a fairly hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour.
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.
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Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together10,429 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Graham flour
- Adds coarse bran and whole-grain texture and a nutty flavor to the loaf.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides gluten for structure so the loaf holds its shape and rises well.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture, and feeds the yeast.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide during fermentation, which makes the dough rise and become airy.
The step that matters
Letting the loaves rise until nearly double. Yeast gas trapped in the gluten network makes the loaf rise. Under-proofed loaves stay dense, while over-proofed loaves may collapse in the oven.
“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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