Name: Yam Pudding
Ingredients: one pound of roasted yam; a pound of white sugar; a pint of cream; a pound of butter; six eggs very light

Why it works: Cream and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Yam Pudding

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

Rub the roasted yam through a colander.
Mix the yam with half a pound of white sugar, a pint of cream or half a pound of butter, a teaspoon of powdered cinnamon, grated nutmeg, a wine glass of rose water, and one wine.
Set the mixture aside to cool.

Add the eggs

Beat six eggs very lightly.
Stir the beaten eggs into the mixture.
Pour the mixture into a buttered dish.

Bake and finish

Bake for half an hour.
When cold, grate sugar over it.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

280Calories

7 gProtein

22 gFat

14 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Cream	1 tbsp (15ml) heavy	51
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Yam	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.

By Eliza Leslie. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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.

Cream + buttertop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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).
Yam + sugartop 19% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together73 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Roasted yam: Forms the main body of the pudding, giving it a soft, thick texture.
White sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly on top.
Cream: Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding soft.
Butter: Adds fat for richness and a tender texture.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set as it bakes.