Why it works: Butter and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,123 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Scald the Indian meal in water.
Add the butter, sponge, molasses, and baking soda.
Stir until the mixture is as stiff as possible.
Bake
Divide the batter into two quart pans.
Bake until done.
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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Butter + molassestop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together8,123 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
- Indian meal
- Scalded in water, it thickens and gives the bread its coarse, dense body.
- Sponge
- Fermented starter that makes the bread rise and adds a tangy flavour.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, moisture and a deep colour to the crumb and crust.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the acidity in the sponge and molasses to produce gas, helping the bread rise.
- Butter
- Adds fat, which softens the crumb and adds richness.
The step that matters
Stir until the mixture is as stiff as possible. A stiff batter holds its shape and traps the gas from the sponge and baking soda, so the bread rises well. A loose batter spreads out and bakes heavy.
“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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