Name: Sweet Potato Pudding
Ingredients: two pounds of potatoes boiled; one pound of sugar; one pint of milk; a pound of butter; six eggs

Why it works: Milk and butter 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 ↓

Sweet Potato Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Boil and mash two pounds of potatoes.
While hot, beat in half a pound of butter, six eggs, one pound of sugar, and one pint of milk, then bake.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

539Calories

19 gProtein

25 gFat

62 gCarbs

What these numbers assume: 5 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
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.

By Keokuk (Iowa). Westminster Presbyterian church. 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. 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.

Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together118,967 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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 pudding and add moisture and body.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and set it into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
Butter: Adds richness and a smooth, tender texture.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps browning in the oven.
Milk: Loosens the mixture and adds moisture for a creamy texture.

The step that matters

Beating in the butter while the potatoes are hot. Hot mashed potato melts the butter so it blends evenly into the mixture. If the potatoes have cooled, the butter can stay in lumps and leave the texture uneven.

Swap the potato

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

Potatothe original
Sweet potatofits about as well
Asparagusfits about as well
Capsicumfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, butter, 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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Sweet Potato Pudding