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 ↓
Graham Bread
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Make a thin batter with Graham flour and water.
Add a little molasses to the batter if desired.
Rise and bake
Let the batter rise until light.
Divide the batter into tins immediately after it rises.
Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes to 1 hour and 30 minutes, depending on loaf size.
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
- Graham flour
- Provides the bulk and structure of the loaf, while its bran gives a coarser, heartier texture.
- Water
- Hydrates the flour so it forms a batter that can rise and set in the oven.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, a deeper brown color and a richer, slightly bitter flavor.
The step that matters
Divide the batter into tins as soon as it rises. Once the batter has risen, it begins to fall as the gas bubbles that lifted it escape. Waiting too long can cause the batter to collapse, leaving a denser loaf after baking.
“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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