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 ↓
Chocolate Potato Cake
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
Cream the butter and gradually add the sugar.
Add the well-beaten egg and warm potatoes, then beat well.
Sift the flour, salt, and baking powder together.
Add the sifted mixture to the first mixture with enough milk to make a cake dough.
Bake
Bake for about 36 minutes in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C).
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,404 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Butter + potatotop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Adds richness and tenderness, and helps the creamed mixture hold air for a softer crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, creamed with butter, helps give a tender texture.
- Egg
- Binds the batter and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- White flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the batter so the cake rises and becomes light.
- Dry riced potato
- Adds moisture and body, giving the cake a soft, moist crumb.
The step that matters
Adding the milk to the sifted mixture. Add just enough milk to form a cake dough, then stop mixing. Once flour meets liquid, gluten develops, and overmixing makes the cake tough. Baking powder also starts releasing gas when wet, so the batter should go into the oven without long delays.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, chocolate, egg, flour, milk):
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, chocolate, egg, flour, milk. 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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