Why it works: Sugar and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Grate the cold, boiled potatoes into a bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the sugar and egg yolks together until well combined.
Mix the egg yolk mixture with the grated potatoes.
Fold and flavor
Beat the egg whites until frothy and gently fold them into the potato mixture.
Add flavoring to taste.
Bake or boil
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for one hour or boil for two hours.
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.
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.
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Potato + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,978 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
-
Potato + sugartop 30% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the bulk and body of the pudding.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and adds softness to the texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the mixture and help it set as it cooks.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to add lightness and help the pudding rise.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites trap air that gives the pudding its lift. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, leaving a dense result. Fold gently so the mixture stays light.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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