Name: Peanut Crisp
Ingredients: 1 lb almond paste; 3 lbs granulated sugar; 2 lbs blanched peanuts (slightly roasted); 12 egg whites

Why it works: Almond and peanut match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 305 recipes. Both carry acetylpyrazine, which smells roast. The science ↓

Peanut Crisp

Ingredients

1 lb almond paste
3 lbs granulated sugar
2 lbs blanched peanuts (slightly roasted)
12 egg whites

Directions

Combine almond paste and granulated sugar in a bowl.
Add egg whites and mix until well combined.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto parchment paper on baking sheets, using the size of walnuts as a guide.
Place whole peanuts on top of each drop.

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 + peanuttop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together305 recipes

Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar + peanuttop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together2,545 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).