Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Whole Wheat Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
In a large bowl, combine whole wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar.
Mix and bake
Add the beaten egg, raisins, and enough sweet milk to make a dough slightly firmer than biscuit dough.
Let the dough stand for 5 minutes.
Transfer the dough to a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour.
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.
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Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together9,075 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Wheat + milktop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,418 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Wheat + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,373 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,481 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Wheat + raisintop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together163 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Whole wheat flour
- Provides the main structure and a hearty, nutty texture.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the loaf rises without yeast.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure and richness.
- Sweet milk
- Hydrates the flour to form a dough and adds moisture.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of sweetness and moisture throughout the loaf.
The step that matters
Adding the milk to the dough. Whole wheat flour absorbs liquid slowly and its bran cuts gluten strands, so the dough should be firm, like biscuit dough, rather than loose. Too much milk gives a dense, gummy loaf that may not set properly in the pan.
Swap the raisin
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (wheat, flour, sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits about as well
- Raisinthe original
- Figfits less well
- Blueberryfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against wheat, flour, sugar, egg, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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