Why it works: Flour and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 8,673 recipes mention both. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Miss Kitty Allen
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Separate the whites of sixteen eggs.
Measure one pound of white sugar, one pound of butter, one pound of flour, one teaspoon of extract of bitter almonds, one pound of blanched almonds (sweet), two ounces of bitter almonds, one pound of citron cut fine, and one grated coconut.
Pound the blanched almonds in a mortar with a little rose water to prevent oiling.
Whisk the egg whites until they will stand alone.
Make the batter
Cream the butter, into which stir the flour until quite stiff.
Add alternately egg, sugar and flour, reserving a little for fruit, until all are well combined.
Flavor with vanilla or extract of bitter almonds.
Flour the fruit, and stir it in last.
Bake and finish
Bake in a slow oven, using great caution not to burn it.
Frost.
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.
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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsAroma overlaplowMentioned together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Butter and flour share little aroma chemistry, yet 124,287 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
- Eggs (in the method)
- Whipped whites give the loaf a light, airy structure.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar, it adds richness and a tender crumb.
- Flour
- Sets the structure of the batter as the loaf bakes.
- Blanched almonds
- Pounded into the batter, they add body, nutty flavor and moisture.
- Citron
- Candied fruit that adds chewy texture and sweet, tart flavor.
- White sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps the cake brown as it bakes.
The step that matters
Bake in a slow oven. A slow oven lets the large cake cook through evenly before the outside browns too deeply. Too much heat scorches the outside while the centre stays wet.
“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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