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Bread

Wheat Bread

Yeast-leavened wheat bread with molasses, baked at 400°F.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Wheat Bread

Why it works: Wheat and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,373 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Wheat Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA hot oven

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.

Make the dough

  1. Mix the yeast with warm water and let it stand for 1.5 hours.

  2. Combine the yeast mixture with the flour and molasses.

  3. Knead the dough thoroughly.

  4. Place the dough in a warm place to rise until doubled in size.

  5. If necessary, add a little saleratus.

Shape and bake

  1. Shape the dough and place it in tins.

  2. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven for 1.5 hours.

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. Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together4,373 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. Wheat + molassestop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together702 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Wheat flour
Provides the structure that holds the bread together as it bakes.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture and a darker colour to the crumb and crust.
Lively yeast
Produces gas as it ferments, causing the dough to rise and become airy.
Saleratus
Acts as a leavening agent that helps the dough rise further when added.

The step that matters

Let the dough rise until doubled. Yeast gas must build up enough to stretch the gluten network; under-proofed dough bakes dense, while a warm spot speeds fermentation.

“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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