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 moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Mix the salt with the flour.
In a bowl, rub the sugar and yeast with a little cold water until smooth.
Stir in 1 quart of lukewarm water and let it settle for a few minutes.
Make a hole in the middle of the flour and pour in the yeast mixture, stirring until it resembles batter.
Cover with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place until well risen.
Add nearly 2 quarts of water and knead the dough well.
Shape and bake
Let it rise again until well risen, then shape into loaves.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) until done.
Refresh stale bread
To refresh stale bread, dip it in water and heat in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
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
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the gluten-forming proteins that build the bread's structure and chew.
- German yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas as it ferments sugars, making the dough rise and become airy.
- Coarse sea salt
- Tightens gluten strands for a firmer dough and controls the pace of yeast fermentation.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast so it becomes active and produces gas for rising.
The step that matters
Kneading after adding the additional water. Water hydrates the flour so gluten can develop; thorough kneading aligns those strands, which gives the loaves structure and an even crumb.
“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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