Why it works: Bread and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 27,232 recipes. Both carry delta-decalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Raised Potato Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the potatoes
Peel the potatoes.
Boil the potatoes in a quart of water until soft.
Drain the potatoes.
Mash the potatoes and let them cool until warm.
Make and rise the dough
Add the mashed potatoes, sugar, flour, and salt. Beat thoroughly and let rise in a warm place for 2-3 hours until it rises about an inch.
Mix the yeast, mashed potatoes, warm water, and sugar together.
Add the remaining sugar, beaten eggs, melted butter or lard, a little salt, and enough flour to make a stiff dough.
Knead the dough for 20 minutes.
Cover the dough.
Place the dough in a warm area free from cold air.
The next morning, take out portions of dough for each pan.
Shape and bake
Shape lightly and place in a pan about 1 inch deep.
Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk.
Bake in a hot oven (400°F / 200°C) for about 20 minutes.
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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Bread + buttertop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together27,232 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-decalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, 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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Bread + eggtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Flour and butter barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Mashed potatoes add moisture and body, giving the cakes a soft, tender crumb.
- Flour
- Forms the gluten structure that stiffens the dough so it holds its shape.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness and structure to the crumb.
- Butter or lard
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich flavor.
- Yeast (in the method)
- Produces gas during the long rise, leavening the dough.
- Sugar
- Feeds the yeast and adds sweetness and gentle browning in the oven.
The step that matters
Let the dough rise fully before baking. Yeast needs a warm, draft-free place and enough time to produce gas. Under-proofed dough bakes dense, while the rise before baking sets the light, open texture.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour, bread, egg, butter):
- Shallotfits better
- Leekfits better
- Chivefits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour, bread, egg, butter. 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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