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Bread

Gluten Bread

A yeast‑leavened wholemeal bread flavored with molasses.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Gluten Bread

Why it works: Flour and molasses are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,429 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Gluten Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Make the sponge

  1. Make a sponge with 1 lb wholemeal flour, ¾ pint water, and ½ yeast cake.

  2. Let the sponge stand for 2.5 to 3 hours.

Make the dough

  1. Work in 1 lb more flour, ¾ pint water, 1 teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons molasses.

  2. Knead to a soft, smooth dough, adding 2 oz more flour if needed.

  3. Let the dough rise until the next morning.

Shape and bake

  1. Shape the dough into 2 loaves.

  2. Let the loaves rise until doubled in size.

  3. Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 50 minutes.

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 + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together10,429 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

Wholemeal flour
Forms the gluten network that gives the loaf its structure and chew.
Yeast
Produces carbon dioxide during the sponge and rises, leavening the dough.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture and a darker colour to the crumb.

The step that matters

Kneading to a soft, smooth dough. Adding the extra flour only if needed keeps the dough soft. Too much flour makes the dough stiff, which limits gas retention and yields a dense loaf.

“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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