Why it works: Potato and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Baked Puddings
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
Boil the potatoes until tender, then mash them.
Mix in the butter, sugar, and grated lemon rind.
Beat in the eggs one at a time until well combined.
Add a few grains of salt and mix thoroughly.
Bake
Pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 40 to 45 minutes.
Cool and serve
Let it cool before serving; it can be served like cake without sugar or preserves.
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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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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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 moisture, giving the pudding a soft, tender body.
- Butter
- Adds fat for richness and a tender, smooth crumb.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and helps keep it moist and tender.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set on baking to give a firm, custard-like structure.
- Lemon rind
- Adds bright citrus aroma from the oils in the peel.
The step that matters
Beat in the eggs one at a time. Adding eggs gradually lets each one emulsify fully into the fat and mash, preventing curdling and giving an even, smooth batter that bakes evenly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, lemon. 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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