Why it works: Nutmeg and mace are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Make the filling
Beat the egg yolks and add them to the creamed mixture along with the mashed potato, then mix well and beat very hard.
Whip the egg whites until stiff and fold them into the potato mixture along with the lemon juice and spices.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into pastry shells and bake until set.
Serve with grated cheese on the side.
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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Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,557 recipes
Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).
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Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,318 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
-
Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Mashed potato
- Provides the bulk and body of the pudding's filling.
- Eggs
- Yolks enrich and bind the filling, while whipped whites lighten it and help it set.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender texture.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps cream the butter to a light, fluffy base.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the sweetness of the filling.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Egg whites whipped to stiff peaks trap air that gives lift. Folding gently preserves that air; overmixing deflates the batter and leaves a denser pudding after baking.
Swap the mace
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, butter, sugar, egg, lemon, nutmeg):
- Cinnamonfits better
- Parsleyfits better
- Cardamomfits better
- Macethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against potato, butter, sugar, egg, lemon, nutmeg. 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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