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Ioo Potato Hillocks

Potato hillocks are mashed potatoes with milk and butter, shaped into cones and baked until browned.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓

Ioo Potato Hillocks

Ingredients

Directions

Boil and mash

  1. Boil the peeled potatoes in water for 20-25 minutes.

  2. Test the potatoes with a fork; if it pierces easily, remove from heat.

  3. Drain all water and return potatoes to the stove for 1-2 minutes to let steam escape.

  4. Mash the potatoes with a wire beater, adding salt to taste and butter.

  5. Gradually mix in hot milk and whip until light and fluffy.

  6. Transfer the mixture to a heated dish without pressing it down.

Shape and bake

  1. If desired, beat in a raw egg to bind the mixture, shape into conical heaps, and place in a greased pan.

  2. Bake in a very hot oven until browned, glazing with butter as they cook.

  3. Use a cake-turner to transfer to a hot platter and serve immediately.

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. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  2. Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,611 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

  3. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  4. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  5. Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together88,785 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Form the bulk of the hillocks, providing starch that gives a soft, fluffy interior.
Butter
Adds richness and flavour, and browns on the surface during baking.
Hot milk
Adds moisture and softness, helping the mash whip up light and fluffy.
Raw egg
Binds the mixture so the heaps hold their conical shape.

The step that matters

Whipping the mash without pressing it down. Whipping with hot milk traps air and makes the mash light. Pressing it down after whipping would collapse that air, making the hillocks dense.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, egg):

  1. Potatothe original
  2. Asparagusfits about as well
  3. Chivefits less well
  4. Leekfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, egg. 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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