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Indian Loaf

A steamed and baked loaf made with Indian meal, flour, shortening, sour milk, molasses, baking soda, and salt.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Indian Loaf

Why it works: Flour and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 14% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Indian Loaf

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.

Mix the batter

  1. Combine Indian meal, flour, shortening, sour milk, molasses, baking soda, and salt in a bowl, then mix until well combined.

Steam and bake

  1. Steam the mixture for 1 hour.

  2. Remove from steam and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 to 45 minutes.

Serve

  1. Serve hot.

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.

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.

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

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Flour + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Milk + molassestop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,243 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

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

Indian meal
Provides the coarse grain body and the characteristic texture of the loaf.
Flour
Adds gluten-free-independent structure that holds the loaf together as it sets.
Shortening
Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and keeps it from drying out.
Sour milk
Supplies moisture and acidity that reacts with the baking soda to lift the loaf.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a darker color with a deep flavor.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acid in the sour milk and molasses to produce gas that makes the loaf rise.

The step that matters

Mix until well combined. Baking soda starts reacting as soon as it meets the acidic sour milk and molasses. Mixing thoroughly spreads it evenly so the loaf rises uniformly instead of in pockets, and the batter should go into the steamer without delay.

“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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