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Bread

Rye and Corn Bread

A loaf of rye and corn bread made with molasses, yeast, and baking soda, baked at 300°F for 5–6 hours.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Rye and molasses work together. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 804 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Rye and Corn Bread

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare the batter

  1. Scald the Indian meal by pouring just enough boiling water over it to wet it, stirring constantly.

  2. In a large bowl, combine the rye meal, scalded Indian meal, molasses, salt, and yeast.

  3. Mix in warm water until the mixture is stiff but can be stirred with a spoon.

  4. Cover the mixture.

  5. Let the mixture rise overnight.

Shape and bake

  1. Add the baking soda dissolved in a little water.

  2. Transfer the mixture to a large pan.

  3. Smooth the top with a hand dipped in cold water.

  4. Let it stand for a short time before baking.

  5. Bake in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 5 to 6 hours, or overnight if started late in the day.

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.

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. Rye + molassestop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together804 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

Rye meal or rye flour
Provides the dense, earthy body and flavor that defines this rye cornbread.
Indian meal
Supplies the cornmeal structure; scalding softens its starch so the loaf holds moisture.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, dark color, and moisture, and helps the crust brown during long baking.
Yeast
Ferments the batter over the long rise, producing gas and a slightly sour flavor.
Baking soda
Reacts with the acidity developed during fermentation to add lift and tenderize the crumb.

The step that matters

Scalding the Indian meal. Pouring boiling water over the meal only until it is wet, while stirring, gelatinizes the starch so it absorbs moisture evenly. Too much water makes the batter slack and gummy.

“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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