Why it works: Potato and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,052 recipes. Both carry 4'-methylacetophenone, which smells bitter almond. 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).
Make the pudding
Beat the eggs very lightly, then add the sugar.
Mix the butter with the hot mashed potatoes.
Gradually add the sugar and beaten eggs to the potato mixture.
Add the sherry and grated nutmeg.
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake until set.
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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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + sherrytop 14% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,505 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
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Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together24,377 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sherry + nutmegtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,246 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Irish potatoes
- Form the body of the pudding and give it a soft, moist texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable custard as it bakes.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, softening the texture of the potato mash.
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Bake until set. Eggs thicken as they heat, so the pudding should be baked until just set in the centre. Underbaking leaves it loose, while overbaking can make it dry and grainy.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg, sherry, nutmeg):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Leekfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, egg, sherry, 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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