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Almond Chsebecakss

A sweet almond pastry baked in a moderate oven.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Frances Crawford · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Chsebecakss

Ingredients

Directions

Make the filling

  1. Blanch and pound finely half a pound of sweet almonds with a little orange-flower water to prevent their oiling.

  2. Take the yolks of six eggs and the whites of two, beat them well, and mix with the almonds.

  3. Add half a pound of sugar with a little grated nutmeg or pounded and sifted mace.

  4. Take a quarter of a pound of butter, melt it, grate a little lemon peel, and pound all together in a mortar.

Bake

  1. Line little tart pans with puff pastry, fill them three parts full, and bake in a moderate oven until pale brown.

  2. (Optional) Some use only the whites of eggs, which make them more delicate.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

199Calories
7 gProtein
18 gFat
2 gCarbs

Counts 4 of 5 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 4 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Macenot in our table0

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

By Frances Crawford. 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 + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Nutmeg + macetop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  3. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Butter + nutmegtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together24,377 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Ground almonds give the filling its body and nutty, tender texture.
Eggs
Eggs bind the filling and set it as it bakes, giving structure and richness.
Butter
Butter adds fat, richness and a smooth, tender mouthfeel to the filling.
Sugar (in the method)
Sugar sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake until pale brown. A moderate oven sets the eggs gently and keeps the almond filling tender. Baking longer dries the filling and darkens the pastry too much.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, butter, egg, nutmeg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, butter, egg, nutmeg. 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.

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