Name: Potato Pudding
Ingredients: 1 pound potatoes, boiled and well mashed; ¼ pound butter, softened; 2 ounces sugar; Rind of ½ lemon, chopped fine; Juice of ½ lemon; 1 cup milk; 2 eggs (optional)

Why it works: Butter and milk 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 Pudding

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the pudding

In a large bowl, combine the mashed potatoes and softened butter while still warm.
Stir in the sugar, lemon rind, lemon juice, and milk until well mixed.
If desired, add the eggs and mix until combined.
Pour the mixture into a greased tin and bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Potato + milktop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,230 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together6,456 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together19,053 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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 a soft, starchy body that gives the pudding its texture.
Butter: Adds richness and fat, giving a smooth, tender crumb as it is worked into the potato.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and helps the top brown lightly during baking.
Milk: Adds moisture so the mashed potato mixture becomes spoonable and bakes softly.
Eggs: Help the pudding set and hold its shape as they cook.