Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Almond Cake
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 almond paste
Blanch and pound the sweet and bitter almonds with a little rose water to form a paste.
Make the batter
Beat the eggs and powdered sugar over gentle heat until it is warm.
Remove from heat and continue beating until the mixture holds a peak.
Once cool, add the almond paste and rose water, mixing well.
Gently fold in the flour and corn starch.
Bake
Pour the batter into a prepared baking pan and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until golden.
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 + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + corntop 8% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together485 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Flour + corntop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,165 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Whipped to a foam, they trap air that lifts and gives the cake its light structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the beaten eggs hold their foam.
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main almond flavour and body through the ground paste.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a deeper, more aromatic almond note to the paste.
- Flour
- Folded in to set the structure of the cake as it bakes.
- Corn starch
- Lightens the crumb and gives a more tender texture than flour alone.
The step that matters
Folding in the flour and corn starch. Gentle folding keeps the air bubbles in the whipped eggs intact. Overmixing knocks out that air and leaves the cake dense and flat after baking.
“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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