Why it works: Brandy and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓
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 potato
Peel the potatoes, steam them, and rub them through a fine sieve.
Make the batter
In a bowl, combine the potato pulp, softened butter, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, cream, currants, and beaten eggs. Mix all the ingredients together until well combined.
Bake and serve
Bake the pudding in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) or boil it until set.
Serve with melted butter in a sauceboat.
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.
-
Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
-
Potato + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,012 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 recipes: they 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
- Potatoes
- Form the bulk of the pudding, giving it a soft, moist body.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set it as the pudding cooks.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat for a tender, smooth texture.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding soft and creamy.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly at the surface.
- Currants
- Add pockets of sweet, chewy fruit throughout the pudding.
The step that matters
Bake or boil until just set. Egg proteins coagulate as they heat, so the pudding turns firm and sliceable. Overheating causes the eggs to curdle and become grainy and watery, so stop once the centre is set.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, cream, currant, egg):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Arrowrootfits about as well
- Shallotfits about as well
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, cream, currant, 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.
More potato pudding recipes
You might also like
Deep-Fried Potato Balls119 recipes
Orange Potato Bread80 recipes
Cinnamon Rolls71 recipes
Brandy Peaches68 recipesThe 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.