Name: Acoen Bonbons
Ingredients: pounds of almond paste; Chocolate Fondant; large bright sugar crystals

Why it works: Almond and chocolate are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,733 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Acoen Bonbons

Ingredients

pounds of almond paste
Chocolate Fondant
large bright sugar crystals

Directions

Color the almond paste bright green and roll it out into strips.
Cut the strips into equal pieces and form them into round drops, shaping one end to a point like an acorn.
Prepare the Chocolate Fondant as for dipping chocolate bonbons.
Sift the sugar, reserving only the large bright crystals, and place it in a pan.
Dip the blunt end of each acorn in the fondant, then stand it in the sugar with the chocolate end down.
Allow to dry so small sugar crystals adhere to the cap.
Continue until all acorns are done, then arrange them in pans to crystallize.

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 + chocolatetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,733 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,404 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).