Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
Make the filling
Mash the boiled potatoes with the cream.
Once cooled, add the butter and sugar beaten into a cream.
Incorporate the whisked eggs and all other ingredients.
Bake
Bake in a pastry crust.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together2,746 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
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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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Potato + orangetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together537 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, smooth texture to the filling.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the crust and top brown.
- Eggs
- Bind the filling and set it into a firm, sliceable custard when baked.
- Mashed potatoes
- Give the pudding body and moisture, and a dense, soft texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, helping the mashed potatoes blend smoothly.
The step that matters
Adding the whisked eggs. Eggs scramble and curdle when they meet a hot mixture, which leaves specks and a grainy texture. Letting the potato and butter mixture cool first keeps the eggs smooth and lets them blend evenly into the filling.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, potato, cream, egg, brandy, nutmeg):
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, potato, cream, egg, brandy, 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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