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 Soup
Ingredients
Directions
Make the soup
Blanch and finely pound the almonds and egg yolks together.
Add the mixture to the hot stock and bring to a boil while stirring constantly.
Thicken the soup with bits of butter rolled in flour.
Finish and serve
Before serving, add salt to taste and stir in the rich cream.
Place the cut egg whites in a tureen and pour the hot soup over them.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + coffeetop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together374 recipes
Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).
Butter and flour 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
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main flavor and body of the soup when pounded fine and blended into the stock.
- Hard boiled egg yolks
- Add richness and help give the soup a smooth, creamy texture.
- Butter and flour
- Thicken the soup as the roux-style mixture dissolves into the hot liquid.
- Rich cream
- Adds fat and richness, softening the flavor and giving a silkier mouthfeel.
- Egg whites
- Cut into pieces and warmed by the hot soup, they add a soft, delicate texture.
The step that matters
Bringing the soup to a boil while stirring constantly. Ground almond and egg yolk can settle and scorch on the bottom of the pan. Constant stirring keeps the mixture dispersed and prevents sticking, while the flour-butter thickening needs to be fully incorporated to avoid lumps.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, butter, flour, coffee, cream):
- Almondthe original
- Hazelnutfits about as well
- Walnutfits less well
- Cocoafits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, butter, flour, coffee, cream. 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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