Why it works: Butter and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 81,283 recipes. Both carry (z)-4-heptenal, which smells biscuit, cream. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a brisk oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the potatoes
Boil the potatoes with their skins on until tender.
Drain and let them dry.
Peel the potatoes and mash them with the butter.
Make the mixture
Add milk gradually to achieve a batter consistency.
Mix in the brandy, sugar, and lemon rind.
Simmer the mixture over low heat.
Let it cool.
Beat the egg yolks with a little milk.
Combine the yolk mixture with the potato mixture.
Gently fold in the whipped egg whites.
Bake
Butter a pudding dish.
Pour the mixture into the dish.
Bake in a brisk oven at 400°F (200°C) until set.
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.
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Potato + milktop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,611 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).
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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 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
- Form the bulk of the pudding, giving a soft, starchy body once mashed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to a smooth, tender texture.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the batter and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Egg whites
- Whipped and folded in to lighten the mixture and help it rise in the oven.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps balance the savoury potato and lemon flavours.
The step that matters
Folding in the whipped egg whites. Egg whites hold air only if they are whipped to the right stiffness and folded in gently. Stirring vigorously knocks the air out, so the pudding bakes denser and rises less.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, milk, sugar, brandy, lemon, egg):
- Sweet potatofits about as well
- Asparagusfits about as well
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, milk, sugar, brandy, lemon, egg. 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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