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 Paste
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the paste
Pound the sweet and bitter almonds very finely, using just enough water to prevent them from oiling.
Cook the paste
In a small saucepan, combine the almond paste and powdered sugar, mixing well.
Place the saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent burning.
When the paste no longer sticks to the pan and forms a cohesive mass, it is done.
Finish
Dust your work surface with flour to prevent sticking.
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.
-
Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
-
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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 body and mild flavour of the paste once ground fine.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a concentrated almond aroma in small quantity.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the paste and helps it dry out and firm as it cooks.
The step that matters
Stirring over low heat until the paste pulls from the pan. Sugar and almond proteins scorch easily on direct heat, so constant stirring over low heat prevents burning. Cooking until the mass pulls away from the pan shows enough moisture has evaporated for a workable, cohesive paste.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, flour):
- Almondthe original
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits less well
- Cashew nutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, flour. 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.
More almond paste recipes
You might also like
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipes
Coconut Almond Cake17 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.