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Dessert

Almond Cake

A sweet almond cake with a sugared almond filling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Why it works: Vanilla and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Cake

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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the batter

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. In a large bowl, cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.

  3. Add the milk and mix well.

  4. Gradually add the flour and baking powder, mixing until just combined.

  5. Fold in the egg whites gently until incorporated.

Bake the cakes

  1. Divide the batter into two greased cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Make the filling and assemble

  1. Combine 2 cups of sugar and 1 cup of water in a saucepan and cook until it threads.

  2. Pour the syrup over the beaten whites of 2 eggs and beat until nearly cold.

  3. Fold in the chopped almonds and almond extract.

  4. Once the cakes are cooled, layer them with the almond filling in between.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Vanilla + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  4. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  5. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Butter
Creamed with sugar to trap air and give the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Egg whites
Beaten air folded into the batter adds lift and a light, open structure.
All-purpose flour
Its proteins set during baking to form the cake's main structure.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the batter, causing the cakes to rise in the oven.
Granulated sugar
Sweetens the cake and, cooked into syrup, sweetens and moistens the filling.
Blanched almonds
Chopped almonds add nutty flavor and a textured bite to the filling.

The step that matters

Beating the hot syrup into the whites. Hot syrup poured into whites cooks and stabilizes the foam, so it must be added slowly while beating. Beating until nearly cold sets a glossy, stable filling that holds between the layers.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, milk, flour, vanilla, egg, syrup):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Chestnutfits about as well
  3. Hazelnutfits less well
  4. Pistachiofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, milk, flour, vanilla, egg, syrup. 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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