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 Souffle
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Select potatoes of similar size for baking.
Cut off each end and bake until soft.
Scoop out the insides carefully, avoiding breaking the skins.
Make the filling
Add butter, coarse sea salt, and enough hot milk to the potato to make it soft.
Beat the mixture until very light and smooth.
Fill and bake
Fill the potato skins with the mixture.
Place the filled skins upright in a buttered pan.
Bake until browned on top.
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 + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy base and the shell that holds the filling upright.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, giving the filling a smoother, softer mouthfeel.
- Hot milk
- Adds moisture and loosens the potato so it beats into a light, smooth texture.
The step that matters
Beat the mixture until very light and smooth. Beating incorporates air and breaks down the potato starch into a fluffy, even texture. Under-beating leaves the filling dense and lumpy, while the mixture must still be soft enough to pipe or spoon into the skins.
“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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