Why it works: Sugar and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Almond Paste for Fruits, Etc
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Dissolve sugar and glucose in water.
Cook the mixture to 256°F (125°C).
Finish and store
Remove from heat, add almond paste and fondant, and stir until fully dissolved.
Store in a crock with a damp cloth over it.
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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Sugar + almondtop 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
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and forms the syrup base that sets the paste.
- Glucose
- Interferes with sugar crystal formation, keeping the paste smooth and soft.
- Almond paste
- Supplies almond flavour and fat that give the paste its richness.
- Fondant
- Adds more sugar and a smooth body to the finished paste.
The step that matters
Cooking the syrup to 256°F (125°C). The syrup's temperature sets how much water remains and therefore how firm the paste will be. Undercooked syrup leaves the paste soft and runny, while overcooked syrup makes it stiff.
“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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