Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
German Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the potatoes
Peel, boil, and mash the potatoes very fine.
Add the egg, cream, sugar, and salt to the mashed potatoes.
Make the batter
When the mixture is cold, add the suet and sifted baking powder.
Bake and serve
Bake in buttered pudding dishes for 30 minutes at 400°F (200°C).
Serve with wine sauce.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Potato + coffeetop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together167 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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Potato + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,481 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Coffee + creamtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,339 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 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 starchy bulk that gives the pudding its body.
- Egg
- Binds the mixture and helps it set as it bakes.
- Suet
- Adds fat that makes the pudding rich and tender.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking so the pudding rises and lightens.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness to the mashed potato base.
The step that matters
Add the suet and baking powder only when the mixture is cold. Warm mashed potato would melt the suet and drive off the baking powder's lift before baking, so the pudding would turn out denser.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (coffee, sugar, egg, cream):
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Capsicumfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against coffee, sugar, egg, 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.
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