Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Almond Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the almonds
Scald the bitter almonds or peach kernels, then peel them and place them in cold water.
Dry the almonds.
Pound them in a mortar with a little rose-water until fine and smooth.
Make the batter
Beat the egg whites and yolks separately.
Gradually add the sugar to the yolks, beating well.
Mix in the pounded almonds and rose-water.
Fold half of the beaten egg whites into the yolk mixture.
Slowly stir in half of the flour until it bubbles.
Fold in the remaining egg whites and flour very lightly.
Bake
Butter a large square tin pan.
Pour the mixture into the pan.
Bake immediately in a preheated oven at 400°F (200°C), ensuring the bottom is hotter than the top.
Ice and serve
Once the cake is cool, cut it into squares.
Beat the egg whites with the sugar and essence of lemon until smooth, then cover the cake with this icing.
Decorate with nonpareils.
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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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Flour + buttertop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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
- Eggs
- Whipped whites trap air that lifts the cake, while yolks add richness and structure.
- Flour
- Sifted flour provides the structure that holds the light batter together as it bakes.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps stabilise the beaten yolks and whites.
- Bitter almonds
- Supply the characteristic almond flavour and fine, moist crumb from the oils they contain.
The step that matters
Bake immediately after folding. The air trapped in the beaten egg whites starts to escape once the batter is mixed. Baking straight away in a hot oven sets the structure before it collapses, so the cake rises well.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, flour, egg, sugar, rose, butter):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, flour, egg, sugar, rose, 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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