Why it works: Flour and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓
Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Warm a large basin.
Sieve the flour into the basin.
Make a well in the center of the flour.
Make a ridge around the top of the flour.
Sprinkle the salt on the ridge.
Cream the yeast and sugar together until liquid.
Mix the liquid yeast-sugar with the tepid water.
Pour the mixture into the middle of the flour.
Work in a little flour.
Sprinkle some flour on top.
Cover the mixture.
Place in a warm place to rise for 20 minutes.
Work in all the flour to form a stiff dough.
Knead the dough well on a pastry board for about 5 minutes.
First rise
Flour the basin.
Return the dough to the basin.
Cut a cross on top of the dough.
Cover the dough.
Set the dough in a warm place for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until doubled in size.
Shape and bake
Slightly grease a bread tin.
Flour the bread tin.
Knead the dough a little.
Shape the dough lightly.
Place the dough in the tin.
Prick the top with a fork.
Let the dough prove in a warm place for about 30 minutes.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for about 1 hour.
Test if the loaf is done by tapping the bottom; if it sounds hollow, it is sufficiently baked.
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 + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Household flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the bread its structure and chew.
- German yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas as it ferments, making the dough rise.
- Tepid water
- Hydrates the flour and activates the yeast while keeping it gentle on the culture.
- Salt
- Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough's flavor and gluten structure.
The step that matters
Work in all the flour to form a stiff dough, then knead well. Kneading develops the gluten network that traps the gas from the yeast. Under-kneading leaves a weak, dense loaf that cannot hold its rise.
“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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