Name: Almond Cheesecakes
Ingredients: curd cheese (from recipe No. 80); 12 bitter almonds, pounded fine; 24 sweet almonds, pounded fine; 12 sweet almonds, chopped small; brandy (optional)

Why it works: Almond and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,969 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓

Almond Cheesecakes

Ingredients

curd cheese (from recipe No. 80)
12 bitter almonds, pounded fine
24 sweet almonds, pounded fine
12 sweet almonds, chopped small
brandy (optional)

Directions

Prepare curd cheesecakes as in recipe No. 80, omitting currants, nutmeg, and lemon peel.
Add the pounded bitter and sweet almonds, and the chopped sweet almonds to the mixture.
Finish the cheesecakes as you would the curd cheesecakes.
Garnish with sliced almonds shaped into stars or any desired form.
Add a little brandy if desired.

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.

Almond + brandytop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,969 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Cheese + brandytop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together79 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
Cheese + almondtop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together284 recipes

Shared aroma: 3-methylbutanol (malty, whiskey).