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
In a large basin, place 2 lbs. of flour and sprinkle 1 teaspoon of salt around the edges.
Create a hollow in the center of the flour.
In a smaller basin, mix 1 oz. of German yeast and 1 teaspoon of sugar with a little lukewarm water to form a smooth paste.
Add 2½ cups of lukewarm water to the yeast mixture and mix thoroughly.
Pour the liquid into the basin of flour and mix until all the flour is wet but not sloppy.
Knead the dough slightly and sprinkle a little flour on top.
Cover the basin with a plate and let it rise in a warm place for 1 hour.
After rising, add a little flour to the dough and knead it well.
Turn the dough out onto a table and knead for 10 minutes, adding at least ½ lb. of flour during this process.
Divide the dough into 4 loaves.
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
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