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 Cakes
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 dough
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
In a bowl, rub together the flour, lard (or butter), and salt.
Add the potato pulp and baking powder to the mixture.
Beat the egg until light, then mix it with the warm milk.
Stir the egg and milk mixture into the flour and potato mixture.
Shape and bake
Turn the dough onto a floured board and roll it out to about 1 inch thick.
Cut into round cakes using a cutter.
Place the cakes on buttered pans and bake for about 20 minutes.
Turn the cakes when browned on one side.
Serve
Serve immediately with butter.
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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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
-
Flour + milktop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the cakes together.
- Potato pulp
- Adds moisture and softness to the dough, giving the cakes a tender crumb.
- Lard or butter
- Rubbed into the flour, it tenderizes the dough and adds richness.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure as it sets in the oven.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas in the dough, helping the cakes rise and lighten.
- Warm milk
- Hydrates the flour and helps form a soft, cohesive dough.
The step that matters
Rolling and cutting the dough to an even thickness. Cakes of uneven thickness bake unevenly, so thin spots over-brown or dry out while thick ones stay doughy in the centre. Keeping the dough at about 1 inch thick gives uniform cakes that cook through at the same rate.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, egg, milk):
- Chivefits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Leekfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, egg, 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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