Name: Extra Fine Cream Almonds
Ingredients: cream almonds; ground walnuts; syrup

Why it works: Almond and walnut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 993 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Extra Fine Cream Almonds

Ingredients

cream almonds
ground walnuts
syrup

Directions

Prepare a batch of cream almonds according to the formula in this book.
Once they are about half coated, sprinkle a little ground walnuts into the syrup.
Have a helper pour the syrup over the nuts while you shake the kettle.
The sugar coating will absorb the ground walnuts and crystallize, creating an extra fine appearance.

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 + walnuttop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together993 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Cream + syruptop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,964 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,130 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Almond + syruptop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together746 recipes

Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
Cream + walnuttop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,982 recipes

Shared aroma: octanal (fat, soap).