Why it works: Nutmeg and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 11,917 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Boil and peel the potatoes.
Pound the potatoes in a mortar with the fresh butter.
Mix and bake
Add the beaten egg yolks and egg whites, pounded sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and spirits.
Mix well and pour into a buttered dish.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until set.
Serve
Turn out before serving and sprinkle with grated sugar.
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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Nutmeg + cinnamontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Potato + nutmegtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,052 recipes
Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
-
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).
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Potato + buttertop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,456 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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 starchy bulk that gives the pudding its body and soft, tender crumb.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that makes the pudding moist and tender.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the mixture and help it set into a custard-like texture when baked.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and lift, helping the pudding set firm and hold its shape.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and contributes to browning on the baked surface.
The step that matters
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until set. Egg proteins coagulate as they heat, so baking until just set gives a firm, smooth texture. Overbaking tightens the eggs and dries the pudding, making it grainy and crumbly.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, egg, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, spirit):
- Sweet potatofits better
- Arrowrootfits better
- Capsicumfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, egg, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, spirit. 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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