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 Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Rub the beef dripping and lard into the flour.
Add baking powder, salt, and potato flour; mix thoroughly.
Stir in the beaten egg and enough lukewarm milk to make a smooth paste.
Roll out the mixture to 1 to 1.5 inches thick and cut into squares or rounds.
Bake and serve
Place on a buttered baking sheet and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
When lightly browned on one side, turn them over.
Cut open, butter immediately, and serve hot.
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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Beef + potatotop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,052 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).
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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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Beef + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,759 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-hexanal (fruit).
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
- Beef dripping
- Adds fat that short-ens the dough, giving a tender, crumbly texture.
- Lard
- Adds fat that coats flour strands, keeping the cakes tender and crumbly.
- All-purpose flour
- Provides the main structure that holds the cakes together as they bake.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas when heated, helping the cakes rise and lighten.
- Potato flour
- Adds moisture and a soft, tender crumb to the dough.
- Egg
- Binds the dough and adds structure as the cakes set in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until lightly browned on one side before turning. Turning too early can tear the delicate, moist cakes, while leaving them too long can dry or over-brown them. Browning on one side sets the base so it holds its shape when flipped.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, flour, egg, milk, butter):
- Potatothe original
- Chivefits about as well
- Leekfits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against beef, flour, egg, milk, butter. 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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