Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Potato Pancakes
Ingredients
Directions
Grate six potatoes; two eggs, salt, flour to make a batter. Fry like other cakes. — Mrs. Henriette Buggeln, Williams, Ariz.
One quart bread flour, two good tablespoons cottolene, two tablespoons sugar, salt, one-half compressed yeast cake, one pint new milk, previously scalded and cooled. Rub cottolene into flour, sugar and salt, add yeast cake and beat thoroughly. Should be about as stiff as batter can be beaten ; raise in a closely covered vessel. \Yhen light, beat down thoroughly, let rise. Continue this process three or more times — then toss lightly on a well floured board (but do not knead). The batter will shape itself into a dough which can be easily rolled. Roll about one-half inch thick, cut, butter one half, lap, let raise until light enouo-h to bake. Oven a Tittle hotter than for bread. — Mrs.
T. A. Barney, New Haven, Conn.
WILUAMS PUBIJC LIBRARY ASSOCIATION 37
To make about sixty. One pint water, one cup yeast, one tablespoon salt, one tablespoon sugar, one-half cup melted but- ter, one-half cup melted lard, good quart flour. Start in the morning, kneading down when light. At 4 o'clock p. m., make in rolls.
Yeast. — Four tablespoons flour, two potatoes mashed, scald with potato water (about one quart), and when cool add yeast cake. — Mrs. Baker, Manistee, Mich.
Sift three teaspoonfuls of baking powder with a quart of flour, adding two teaspoons of sugar and one of salt. Rub into this a tablespoonful of butter and stir in last of all, one well beaten egg. Mix to a dough with two cupfuls of cold sweet milk, roll out to half-inch thickness and cut in rounds about the size of a tea saucer. Spread softened butter over the tops, then fold one half over the other. Put them in a baking pan so they do not touch each other and bake until brown in a hot oven. — Mrs. George McDougall, Williams, Ariz.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 8 of 10 ingredients. The other 2 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Lard | 1 tbsp (12.8g) | 115 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Bread + milktop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together11,466 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-undecenal (sweet).
-
Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter 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
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (bread, flour, sugar, milk, butter, egg):
- Leekfits about as well
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against bread, flour, sugar, milk, butter, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
More potato pancakes recipes
You might also like
The free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.
Brown Bread461 recipes
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
White Bread80 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes