Why it works: Lemon and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the batter
Rub the boiled potatoes until smooth.
Add the egg yolks, granulated sugar, lemon peel, and chopped almonds; mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until foamy and fold into the potato mixture.
Bake and serve
Pour the mixture into a well-greased pan and sprinkle with bread crumbs.
Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until done.
Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.
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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Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Potato + almondtop 10% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together337 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + breadtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together22,662 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
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Potato + breadtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together434 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (popcorn, roasted).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Mashed potato forms the soft, moist body of the pudding.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and help bind the mixture as it sets.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to foam, they lighten the batter and help it rise and set airy.
- Almonds
- Add nutty flavor and a slight texture to the pudding.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps brown the surface as it bakes.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Beaten whites trap air that gives the pudding its lift. Stirring them in vigorously or letting them deflate before baking will make the result dense and flat.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, lemon, almond, bread):
- Arrowrootfits better
- Asparagusfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, lemon, almond, bread. 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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