Why it works: Potato and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,611 recipes. Both carry (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal, which smells cucumber, melon. The science ↓
Fried Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine mashed potatoes, eggs, sour milk, soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, sugar, and shortening.
Add flour as needed to make the dough rollable.
Fry
Fry in hot lard until golden.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Potato | 1 medium (173g) baked | 161 |
| Sour Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
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.
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.
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Milk and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Mashed potatoes
- Adds moisture and body, giving the cakes a soft, tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add structure and richness to the cakes.
- Sour milk
- Its acidity reacts with the soda to help the cakes rise.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during cooking to lighten the dough and help it rise.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during frying.
- Shortening
- Adds fat that tenderizes the dough and keeps the crumb soft.
The step that matters
Fry in hot lard until golden. Oil that is too cool lets the cakes soak up grease and cook slowly, while oil that is too hot browns the outside before the centre sets. Holding the fat at a steady hot temperature gives an evenly cooked, non-greasy cake.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, sugar, egg):
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, sugar, 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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