Why it works: Butter and milk 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
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 the base
Boil the potatoes until tender, then mash them very fine.
In a bowl, beat the mashed potatoes with the egg yolks, sugar, and butter until well combined.
Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and milk or cream to the potato mixture and stir well.
Add the egg whites and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Gently fold in the beaten egg whites.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) for 1.5 hours.
Finish
Reserve some of the beaten egg whites to ice the top before serving.
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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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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 a soft, starchy body that sets the pudding's texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the custard and help bind the mixture as it bakes.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and help it rise in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a smooth, tender crumb.
- Milk or cream
- Adds moisture and richness, loosening the mixture for a tender bake.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and contributes to browning on the surface.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives the pudding its lift. Stirring them in vigorously deflates the foam, leaving a dense, flat result, so fold gently until just combined.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, butter, lemon, milk):
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Leekfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, lemon, milk. 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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