Why it works: Flour and almond 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 ↓
Miss Copelin
Ingredients
Directions
Make the dough
Combine two pounds of flour, one of sugar, one of melted butter, one of blanched and split almonds, and two eggs, leaving out one white.
Mix the flour and sugar together, then add the eggs without beating and mix with the melted butter.
Roll the dough very thin.
Shape and bake
Cut into cakes with a knife.
Wet the cakes with the extra white of an egg.
Place two or three pieces of almond on each cake.
Sprinkle the cakes with coarse sugar and cinnamon.
Bake in a brisk oven.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Flour and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they 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
- Flour
- Forms the structure of the dough that holds the cakes together.
- Butter (in the method)
- Adds richness and tenderness by coating the flour and fat-softening the dough.
- Eggs
- Bind the dough and add richness to the cake.
- Sugar (in the method)
- Sweetens the cakes and helps them brown in the oven.
- Almonds
- Add nutty flavor and texture on the surface of each cake.
The step that matters
Bake in a brisk oven. The dough is rolled very thin, so a hot oven sets the cakes quickly and browns them before they dry out or become hard.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, egg):
- Almondthe original
- Milletfits about as well
- Macadamia nutfits less well
- Chestnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against flour, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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.
You might also like
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipes
Coconut Almond Cake17 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.