Why it works: Ginger and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,380 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Sweet 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 potatoes
Boil the sweet potatoes until tender, then press them through a sieve.
In a bowl, combine the pressed potatoes with molasses, sugar, salt, ginger, and cinnamon.
Make the batter
Heat the milk and pour it over the potato mixture.
Beat the eggs and add them to the mixture, stirring well.
Butter a baking dish and pour the mixture into it.
Bake
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour.
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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Ginger + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together6,380 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Sweet potato + cinnamontop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together539 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sweet potato + gingertop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together306 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-one (mushroom, metallic).
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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Cinnamon + milktop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,655 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet potatoes
- Provide the bulk, starch and moisture that give the pudding its soft, dense body.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, custard-like pudding as it bakes.
- Milk
- Adds liquid and richness, creating a smooth, tender texture when baked.
- Molasses
- Adds sweetness, dark colour and a deep, slightly bitter flavour that complements the spices.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and promotes gentle browning on the baked surface.
The step that matters
Pressing the potatoes through a sieve. Sieving breaks down the cooked potato fibres and removes lumps, so the pudding bakes up smooth rather than stringy or grainy.
“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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