Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
An Excellent Plain Potatoe 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 the mixture
Mash the boiled potatoes until smooth.
In a bowl, cream the butter and add the egg yolks, mixing well.
Stir in the cream, white wine, salt, lemon juice, and lemon rind.
Fold in the mashed potatoes and beaten egg whites until frothy.
Add sugar to taste and mix gently.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a baking dish.
Optionally, add a crust.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) until set and lightly 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.
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 + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Butter + white winetop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,083 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).
-
Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
White wine + lemontop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,832 recipes
Shared aroma: myrcene (balsamic, herbaceous).
-
Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 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.
- Eggs
- Set the pudding when baked and add structure, with whipped whites lightening the mixture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a tender, smooth mouthfeel.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding soft and creamy.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and aroma that brighten the sweetness of the pudding.
The step that matters
Fold in the beaten egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air in the whites, which helps the pudding rise and stay light. Stirring hard deflates the foam and leaves a dense result.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, cream, white wine, lemon, sugar):
- Leekfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Shallotfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, cream, white wine, lemon, sugar. 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
The 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.
Potato Croquettes255 recipes
Lemon Sauce236 recipes
Potato Rolls78 recipes
Potato Chips53 recipes