Why it works: Potato and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 30% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Potato Bread
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 325°F (165°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the potatoes
Boil the potatoes with their skins on.
Peel and mash or grate the boiled potatoes.
Make the dough
Set a sponge with half the water and yeast.
Mix in enough flour to make a thick batter.
Combine the remaining water, sugar, lard, and salt with the mashed potatoes.
Mix to form a solid dough.
Let the dough rise once.
Knead the dough again.
Shape and bake
Shape the dough into smooth round loaves.
Place the loaves in flour-dusted boxes or on cloths.
Dust the tops of the loaves with flour.
Allow the loaves to rise again.
Bake at 325°F (165°C) until done.
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.
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Potato + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Add moisture and a soft, tender crumb to the dough.
- Yeast
- Ferments the dough, producing gas that makes the loaves rise.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds a touch of sweetness and browning.
- Lard
- Adds fat that tenderizes the crumb and softens the texture.
The step that matters
Set the sponge with half the water and yeast. The yeast must be active and well hydrated before it is mixed into the dough. A good sponge ferments first, building the gas and flavor that the later rises depend on.
“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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