Why it works: Potato and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,355 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
White Bread
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.
Make the sponge
Boil the potatoes in 1 pint of water until soft.
Remove the potatoes and mash them.
Add 2 tablespoons of flour to the mashed potatoes.
Pour in the potato water.
Stir until smooth.
When cool, mix in 2 tablespoons of yeast and ½ teaspoon of salt.
Let the mixture rise overnight.
Make the dough
In the morning, pour ½ pint of boiling water into a bowl of flour. Mix.
Add enough cold water to make it lukewarm.
Pour in the sponge from the night before.
Mix the dough until soft.
Knead for 30 minutes.
Place the dough back in the bowl.
Let it rise until light.
Knead down the dough.
Let it rise again.
Shape and bake
Shape into loaves.
Place in bread pans.
Let rise until light.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,355 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Add starch and moisture, giving the bread a soft, moist crumb.
- Yeast
- Produces gas as it ferments, making the dough rise and become light.
- Fine flour
- Provides the gluten-forming structure that traps gas and holds the loaf together.
- Sea salt
- Controls yeast activity and strengthens the dough's flavour and structure.
The step that matters
Letting the sponge rise overnight. The yeast needs time to ferment the potato and flour mixture; rushing this step leaves the sponge weak, so the dough will rise poorly and yield a dense loaf.
“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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