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Dessert

Nut-meat Cakes

A savory cake made with mashed potatoes, tomatoes, eggs, butter, cracker crumbs, and crushed peanuts.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Potato and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,798 recipes. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

Nut-meat Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Preheat the broiler.

  2. In a bowl, combine mashed potatoes, strained tomatoes, eggs, butter, cracker crumbs, and crushed peanuts. Mix until well combined.

Shape and broil

  1. Form the mixture into cakes.

  2. Place the cakes on a buttered pan and broil until golden brown.

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.

  1. Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,798 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Potato + peanuttop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together161 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isobutyl-3-methoxypyrazine (green bell pepper, earthy).

  3. Tomato + peanuttop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together315 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  4. Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,456 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Butter + peanuttop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,754 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-decenal (waxy, orange).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Mashed potatoes
Provides bulk and moisture so the cakes hold together while staying soft inside.
Eggs
Bind the mixture so the cakes set firm enough to shape and hold their form.
Cracker crumbs
Absorb moisture and add structure, helping the cakes keep their shape.
Crushed peanuts
Add texture and a nutty flavor that stands out in the cakes.
Strained tomatoes
Add moisture and a mild acidity that balances the rich flavors.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, egg, butter, peanut):

  1. Asparagusfits better
  2. Chivefits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, egg, butter, peanut. 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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