Why it works: Almond and pistachio match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 693 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓
Wafers, with Pistachios
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the batter
Combine almonds, sugar, flour, orange peel, whole eggs, egg yolk, and salt in a small bowl, then stir gently with a spatula.
Lightly butter a baking plate measuring 18 inches by 12 inches.
Pour the almond mixture onto the plate, level it with a large knife, and sprinkle the pistachios evenly over the mixture.
Bake and shape
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until both sides are light brown, watching closely to avoid overbaking.
Once baked, cut the wafer into 2-inch wide strips, then cut those strips into 2 to 2.5-inch long pieces.
To shape the wafers, bend them over a roller that is 1.5 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 feet long.
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 + pistachiotop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together693 recipes
Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Flour + pistachiotop 7% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together505 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Orange + pistachiotop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together328 recipes
Shared aroma: pinene (pine, turpentine).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Blanched sweet almonds
- Form the main body of the wafer and give a crisp, nutty texture.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the wafer brown during baking.
- Whole eggs
- Bind the almonds into a batter and help set the wafer structure.
- Egg yolk
- Adds richness and fat, helping the wafer stay tender and brown.
- All-purpose flour
- Adds a little structure so the thin batter holds together when baked.
The step that matters
Bake until light brown without overbaking. Thin almond batter goes from pale to dark quickly. Overbaking makes the wafer brittle and bitter, and it may crack when bent over the roller.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, flour, egg, pistachio, butter):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, flour, egg, pistachio, 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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