Why it works: Potato and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 12% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,230 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Potato Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the pudding
Boil the potatoes until very soft, then mash them perfectly smooth while hot.
Mix in the butter, sugar, eggs, salt, and lemon rind until well combined.
Pour the mixture into a well-buttered dish.
Bake and serve
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for nearly 45 minutes.
Turn out the pudding and serve with sifted fine sugar on top, or spread with red currant jelly or any other preserve.
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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Potato + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together2,230 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, 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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Butter + lemontop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,227 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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 soft, moist body of the pudding when mashed smooth.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat that gives the pudding a tender, smooth texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set on baking to give the pudding its structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the pudding brown lightly in the oven.
The step that matters
Mashing the potatoes smooth while hot. Lumps or cooling potatoes leave a grainy texture, because starch sets as it cools and resists being smoothed. Mashing them hot while they are still very soft gives the silky crumb the pudding depends on.
Swap the potato
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, sugar, egg, lemon):
- Asparagusfits better
- Leekfits better
- Shallotfits better
- Potatothe original
Fit is the average pairing score against butter, sugar, egg, lemon. 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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