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 ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Bake, steam, or boil the potatoes until cooked.
Scoop out all the pulp into a large saucepan, leaving no waste.
Beat the pulp vigorously with a large fork or spoon.
Make the batter
Add the butter, sugar, lemon peel, and salt, stirring carefully.
Cook the batter over the fire until it comes to a boil.
Beat the eggs and stir them into the boiling batter.
Bake and serve
Pour the batter into a greased pie dish.
Bake the pudding for an hour in the oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 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 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 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.
-
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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, giving it body and a soft, moist crumb.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and liquid so the potato pulp becomes a spoonable batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps browning on the surface as it bakes.
- Eggs
- Set during baking to give the pudding structure and a firm, custard-like body.
The step that matters
Stir the eggs into the boiling batter. Eggs thicken and set when heated, but if the batter is not hot enough to cook them evenly, they can scramble or leave the pudding unevenly set. Adding them to the boiling batter and stirring well helps them blend smoothly and bake into an even texture.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, butter, sugar, egg):
- Potatothe original
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, butter, 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.
More potato pudding recipes
You might also like
Deep-Fried Potato Balls119 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipesThe 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.