Why it works: Cinnamon and nutmeg 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 ↓
Sweet Potato 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 potatoes
Cook the sweet potatoes with the peelings on, then peel and run through a sieve or colander.
Measure 3 cups of the mashed sweet potatoes into a mixing bowl and beat them.
Mix and bake
Add the sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir well.
Add the raisins and walnuts, then fold in the well-beaten eggs.
Place in the oven and bake at 350°F (175°C) until set and lightly browned on top.
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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Cinnamon + nutmegtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together11,917 recipes
Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
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Cinnamon + raisintop 1% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,390 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
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Sweet potato + cinnamontop 2% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together539 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sweet potato + nutmegtop 4% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together414 recipes
Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).
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Nutmeg + walnuttop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,230 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sweet potatoes
- Form the bulk of the pudding and give it a soft, moist body.
- Eggs
- Bind the mixture and set on baking to give the pudding its firm texture.
- Granulated sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the top brown lightly in the oven.
- Butter
- Adds richness and fat, contributing to a tender texture and flavor.
- Raisins
- Add pockets of chewy sweetness throughout the pudding.
- Walnuts
- Add crunch and a toasty, nutty flavor against the soft custard-like base.
The step that matters
Baking until set. Eggs set as they heat, so the pudding should be baked until firm in the center. Underbaking leaves it loose and wet, while overbaking can make it dry and grainy.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sweet potato, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisin, egg):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits better
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sweet potato, sugar, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, raisin, 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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