Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. 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
Boil and peel the potatoes.
Mash the potatoes smoothly with the butter.
Mix and bake
Add the egg yolks, egg whites, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and spirits, and mix all ingredients well.
Pour the mixture into a buttered dish.
Bake for 30 minutes at 350°F (175°C).
Serve
Turn out before serving and sprinkle with additional sugar.
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.
-
Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
-
Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Potato + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,012 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
-
Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy bulk that gives the pudding its soft, tender body.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, keeping the pudding moist and smooth.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help the pudding set as it bakes.
- Egg whites
- Add lightness and structure, helping the pudding rise and hold its shape.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Mashing the potatoes smoothly with the butter. Any lumps left in the potato will stay in the baked pudding, so a smooth base gives an even, velvety texture. Mashing while the potatoes are still warm helps the butter blend in fully.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, spirit):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, spirit. 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.
More potato pudding recipes
You might also like
Deep-Fried Potato Balls119 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Cinnamon Cake42 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.