Why it works: Potato and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and 5,160 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Directions
Make the custard
Boil the cinnamon, lemon peel, and sugar in the milk.
Strain the mixture.
Stir in the potato flour mixed with a little cold milk.
Stir until nearly cold.
Add the beaten eggs, sweet wine or spirits, and marmalade.
Bake
Bake in a Dutch oven.
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
-
Potato + flourtop 9% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together5,160 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Milk + potatotop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
-
Cinnamon + sugartop 4% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together30,777 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Milk + cinnamontop 4% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,647 recipes
Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
-
Cinnamon + lemontop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together7,950 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).
Cinnamon and sugar share little aroma chemistry, yet 30,777 recipes mention both: they likely 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
- Potato flour
- Thickens the milk into a smooth, set custard as it cooks and cools.
- Eggs
- Set when baked, giving the pudding structure and a tender, custardy body.
- Milk
- Forms the base of the pudding and provides moisture and richness.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the flavour of the eggs and milk.
- Marmalade
- Adds fruity sweetness and a bit of bitter citrus aroma.
The step that matters
Stir in the potato flour mixed with a little cold milk. Potato flour must be dispersed in cold liquid first, otherwise it clumps when added to hot milk. Stirring it in smoothly and letting the mixture cool slightly before adding the eggs keeps the custard smooth and prevents the eggs from scrambling.
Flavor stand-ins for the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (milk, cinnamon, sugar, potato, flour, egg, wine):
- Vanillabetter flavor fit
- Raisinbetter flavor fit
- Appleabout as good a flavor fit
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against milk, cinnamon, sugar, potato, flour, egg, wine. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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.
You might also like
Illustration
Illustration
Illustration
IllustrationThe Sunday pairing: one pairing, the chemistry behind it, and how to cook it. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account for sign-in; Pro adds the full results and chemistry.