Why it works: Milk and butter 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 Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the dough
Crush and beat the baked or boiled potatoes with a rolling pin until free from lumps.
Mix in the flour, pepper, and salt.
Add lukewarm milk and butter.
Form a smooth, firm dough.
Incorporate the yeast or egg.
Incorporate the baking powder.
Roll out the dough to about 2 inches thick.
Dust the dough with flour.
Cut the dough to fit the size of the baking pan.
Bake and serve
Grease the pan with butter or dripping.
Carefully place the dough inside the pan.
Cover the dough with a plate.
Shake the plate occasionally to prevent burning.
Bake over a gentle fire for about 30 minutes, turning halfway through.
Serve on a hot dish.
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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Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + peppertop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,305 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
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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 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
- Potatoes
- Provide the bulk and starch that give the cake its soft, tender body.
- Flour
- Adds structure by binding the potato into a dough that holds its shape.
- Milk
- Adds moisture and helps bind the dough into a smooth, pliable texture.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb, and helps prevent sticking in the pan.
- Yeast or egg
- Yeast raises the dough through fermentation; egg adds structure and richness.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise and lighten.
The step that matters
Shaking the plate during baking. Covering the dough over gentle heat traps moisture and heat, so the base can scorch if not shaken. Shaking the plate occasionally moves the heat evenly and prevents burning on the bottom.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, pepper, milk, butter, egg):
- Capsicumfits about as well
- Potatothe original
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Chivefits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, pepper, milk, butter, egg. 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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