Why it works: Molasses and flour 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 ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sponge
Mix a wheat sponge as directed in the bread recipe.
Let the sponge sit overnight.
Set the sponge without milk to prevent souring.
Make and bake the dough
Add 4 tablespoons of molasses and enough Graham flour.
Make a dough slightly softer than wheat bread.
Watch the dough carefully as it rises.
Once it is light, place it in the oven.
Finish baking as directed.
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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Molasses + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness and depth of flavor, and helps the crust brown during baking.
- Graham flour
- Forms the main structure of the dough, with bran and germ giving a coarser texture.
The step that matters
Watch the dough as it rises. Dough should be placed in the oven only once it is light, because under-proofed dough bakes dense while over-proofed dough can collapse and lose its structure.
“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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