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 with Yeast
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the dough
Mix the flour and salt in a basin and make a well in the center.
Combine the yeast and sugar in another basin and work into a smooth paste.
Gradually add tepid water to the yeast mixture to prevent lumps.
Pour the yeast mixture into the well and gradually incorporate the flour to form a light dough.
Knead the dough by hand until smooth.
Cover the dough with a cloth and let it rise in a warm place for about 2 hours.
Shape and bake
Turn the dough onto a floured board and knead in enough flour until it no longer sticks.
Divide the dough into two or three pieces and place them in floured or greased tins.
Let the dough rise again for about 30 minutes.
Bake in a hot oven at 400°F for the first part, then reduce to 350°F and bake for 1 to 2 hours, depending on size.
Do not open the oven door for the first 10 minutes.
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
- Flour
- Forms the gluten network that gives the dough its structure and chew.
- Yeast
- Produces carbon dioxide gas that makes the dough rise and become light.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so gluten can develop and activates the yeast.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast so it becomes active and produces gas for rising.
The step that matters
Do not open the oven door for the first 10 minutes. Opening the door lets heat escape and the cooling air can stop the loaf from rising fully in its first minutes of baking, leaving it dense.
“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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