Why it works: Cinnamon and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,536 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Potato Cake
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Grease the pans well, sprinkle with flour, and line with greased and floured paper.
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks well and gradually add the sugar.
Mix in the grated potatoes and then fold in the well-beaten egg whites and spices.
Bake and serve
Bake in two layers for 35 minutes.
Just before serving, layer the cake with whipped cream.
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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Cinnamon + allspicetop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,536 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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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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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Potato + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,012 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Potato + allspicetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together298 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyl acetate (fruit).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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
- Eggs
- Egg whites, beaten and folded in, lighten the batter and give the cake its rise and structure.
- Potatoes
- Grated cooked potatoes add moisture and a tender, dense crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps the yolks form a smooth, stable base for the batter.
- Cinnamon
- Adds warm aroma and flavor to the cake.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Beaten whites hold air that makes the cake rise. Folding gently, rather than stirring, keeps that air from collapsing, so the layers stay light and well risen.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, cream):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Horseradishfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, cinnamon, allspice, 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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