Name: Nut Bread
Ingredients: 4 cups flour; 1 cup sugar; 4 teaspoons baking powder; 1 cup walnuts (broken, not chopped); 1 teaspoon salt; 2 cups milk; 1 egg

Why it works: Flour and walnut are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,873 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Nut Bread

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder.
Add the sugar and walnuts.
Then add the well-beaten egg and milk.
Beat all together until smooth.

Bake

Put into well-greased pans and let rise for 30 minutes.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.

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.

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.

Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,873 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together78,219 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Walnut + milktop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,236 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Flour: Forms the main structure of the bread as its proteins and starch set during baking.
Baking powder: Releases gas in the batter so the loaf rises and becomes light.
Egg: Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
Milk: Hydrates the flour and adds moisture and tenderness to the crumb.
Walnuts: Add texture and a nutty flavor, with fat that contributes richness.

The step that matters

Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour. Baking powder begins releasing gas as soon as it is wet, so the batter should go into the pans and the oven promptly after mixing. Slow handling lets the rise fade before the structure sets. A steady moderate oven lets the loaf set through without the crust browning too fast or the center staying wet.