Why it works: Almond and flour 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 ↓
Small Almond Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Blanch and pound a quarter pound of almonds with rose water.
Beat the whites of four eggs very stiff.
Add three tablespoonsful of rice flour and sugar to taste.
Bake fancy shapes
Bake in fancy shapes on buttered paper in a slow oven for ten minutes.
Make the cake
Beat butter and loaf sugar into a cream.
Add three eggs, a third of a cup of cream, half a pound of flour, and rose water to taste.
Drop the batter into buttered pans.
Bake for fifteen minutes.
If desired, season with chocolate.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 6 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Almond | 1 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.
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.
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + ricetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,456 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
-
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the main nutty flavour and a moist, dense body to the cake.
- Eggs
- Whipped whites add lift, while the yolks and whole eggs bind the batter.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavour.
- Flour
- Gives the batter structure as the eggs and butter set in the oven.
- Loaf sugar
- Creamed with butter for sweetness and a lighter, tender texture.
- Rice flour
- Adds a lighter, more delicate texture to the baked shapes.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites very stiff. Whites whipped to stiff peaks trap air that gives the mixture its lift. Under-beaten whites leave the shapes dense, and over-beaten whites turn grainy and collapse.
“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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