Why it works: Flour and molasses 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 ↓
Boston Brown Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a bowl, mix cornmeal, graham flour, baking soda, and salt.
Stir in molasses and hot water until well combined.
Beat the mixture and pour it into a basin.
Steam and dry
Steam for 2 hours.
Transfer to an oven and dry for 15 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 + molassestop 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
- Cornmeal
- Gives the bread its coarse, crumbly texture and grainy body.
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk of the structure and a hearty, wholesome texture.
- Baking soda
- Reacts with the molasses acid to help the bread rise and lighten.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark color, moisture, and a deep flavor.
The step that matters
Steam for the full 2 hours. Steaming keeps the batter moist and lets the leavening work gently, so the bread sets evenly. Cutting the steaming short can leave it dense and gummy in the center.
“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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