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Dessert

Blanche Kammerer

A graham cracker cake with butter frosting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Walnut and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and 993 recipes mention both. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Blanche Kammerer

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Cream half a cup of butter with one cup of sugar, four beaten yolks, and one and one-half cups of milk.

  2. Roll one pound of graham crackers fine, mix with two teaspoons of baking powder, and add half cup of chopped walnuts and half cup of almonds.

Bake

  1. Bake in layers.

Make the filling

  1. Combine one tablespoon of butter, two tablespoons of milk, one pound of powdered sugar, and one teaspoon of vanilla.

By Paidar, Marie, Mrs., [from old catalog] comp. 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. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Walnut + almondtop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together993 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Vanilla + almondtop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  4. Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Aroma overlaplow
    Mentioned together35,032 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and vanilla share little aroma chemistry, yet 35,032 recipes mention both: they likely work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Graham crackers
Crushed into the batter to give a crumbly, toasty-flavoured structure.
Butter
Adds fat for tenderness and a rich mouthfeel.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the batter while emulsifying with the butter.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay tender.
Milk
Supplies moisture that hydrates the crumbs and sugar.
Baking powder
Releases gas that helps the cake rise and lighten.

Flavor stand-ins for the walnut

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, almond):

  1. Hazelnutbetter flavor fit
  2. Pistachiobetter flavor fit
  3. Chestnutbetter flavor fit
  4. Walnutthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, milk, butter, vanilla, almond. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“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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