Name: How We Cook IX Tennessee
Ingredients: one-half cups sifted flour; one cup shortening; one pint flour; one teaspoon of baking powder; one cup butter; one cup sugar; half cups sugar; one pint mashed sweet potatoes; one cup milk; one pint mashed sweet potato; half cup butter; one-half cup sugar; three tablespoons whiskey; one-half cup water; one cup of sugar; half cup of butter; one cup of boiling water; one pound of potatoes boiled; half pound of sugar; one-fourth pound of butter; two cupfuls of boiled potatoes nicely strained through a colander; one cup of butter; three tablespoonfuls of butter; a cup of boiling water; a teaspoonful of cinnamon; a small cup of cream; half teacup cold water; two pies; two edges together; six eggs

Why it works: Sweet potato and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 539 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

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.

Sweet potato + cinnamontop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together539 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Flour + cinnamontop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together17,341 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Sweet potatoes: Provide the bulk and body of the filling, giving it a soft, smooth texture.
Eggs: Help the filling set into a sliceable custard as they cook.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smooth mouthfeel.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the filling brown lightly in the oven.
Milk: Adds moisture and liquid so the filling becomes smooth and pourable.

Swap the potato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, sweet potato, milk, cinnamon, cream):

Arrowrootfits better
Parsnipfits better
Beetrootfits better
Potatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, sweet potato, milk, cinnamon, cream. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Apple	1 medium (182g)	95
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Vanilla	1 tsp extract (4ml)	12
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Clove	1 tsp ground (2g)	7
Cinnamon	1 tsp ground (2.6g)	6
Allspice	1 tsp ground (1.9g)	5
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Whiskey	not in our table	0
Water	not in our table	0
Pie	not in our table	0

How We Cook IX Tennessee