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Dessert

Almond Cake

A sweet baked cake made with sugar, butter, flour, milk, eggs, almonds, vanilla, and leavening agents.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio) · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix two cups flour, one cup corn starch, and two teaspoons cream tartar.

  2. Cream the butter and sugar together.

  3. Add the sweet milk gradually, with one teaspoon soda.

  4. Add the whites of six eggs together with the flour.

  5. Bake in jelly tins.

Make the almond filling

  1. For the layers, take two pounds almonds, blanch and pound finely in a mortar (or cloth).

  2. Beat together the whites and yolks of two eggs lightly.

  3. Add one and a half cups sugar.

  4. Add the almonds with one tablespoon vanilla.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

903Calories
28 gProtein
32 gFat
121 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 8 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Cream1 tbsp (15ml) heavy51
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Vanilla1 tsp extract (4ml)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Women of the First Congregational Church (Marysville, Ohio). 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 their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Almond + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

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

  4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

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

  5. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

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

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Finely pounded almonds add body, richness and nutty flavor to the layers.
Butter
Creaming with sugar traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich crumb.
Eggs
Whites add structure and lift, while yolks add richness and binding.
Cream tartar
Acid that reacts with soda to help the cake rise and keeps the crumb tender.
Soda
Reacts with the acidic cream tartar and milk to produce gas for rising.

The step that matters

Add the whites of six eggs together with the flour. Egg whites hold air that gives the cake its lift. Folding them in gently with the flour, rather than beating them in hard, keeps that air from collapsing and keeps the crumb light.

“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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