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 base
Peel, steam, and rub the potatoes through a fine sieve.
In a bowl, combine the potato pulp, butter, sugar, brandy, cinnamon, cream, currants, and beaten eggs, and mix until well combined.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a baking dish and bake at 350°F (175°C) until set, or boil in a pudding cloth.
Serve the pudding warm 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.
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Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,057 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).
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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together30,779 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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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
- Provide the bulk and body of the pudding, giving it a soft, tender crumb.
- Eggs
- Set the custard as they cook, binding the pudding into a firm yet tender texture.
- Butter
- Adds richness and a silky mouthfeel to the pudding.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness, keeping the pudding smooth and tender.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps with browning on the baked surface.
The step that matters
Baking until set. Eggs set as they heat, so the pudding should be baked only until firm at the centre. Overbaking makes the custard grainy and dry, while underbaking leaves it liquid.
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.
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