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Dessert

French Almond Cake

A sweet cake made from shelled sweet and bitter almonds, flour, sugar, eggs, and lemon essence, baked in a tin mould.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 25 ingredients
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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 ↓

French Almond Cake

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds by scalding them in hot water.

  2. Put them in a bowl of cold water and wipe them dry when you take them out.

  3. Pound them, one at a time, in a mortar until they are perfectly smooth.

  4. Mix the sweet and bitter almonds together.

  5. Prepare them, if possible the day before the cake is made.

Make the batter

  1. Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs into separate pans.

  2. Beat the whites until they stand alone, then beat the yolks until very thick.

  3. Gradually add sugar to the yolks, beating hard.

  4. Add almonds in stages, still beating hard.

  5. Add lemon essence.

  6. Gradually beat in the egg whites, continuing to beat after all are added.

  7. Stir in flour slowly and lightly.

Bake and finish

  1. Butter a large tin mould or pan.

  2. Put the batter in and bake in a very quick oven for an hour or more, depending on thickness.

  3. Ensure the oven is not hotter at the top than at the bottom.

  4. When done, set it on a sieve to cool.

  5. Ice it and ornament with nonpareils.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

703Calories
20 gProtein
19 gFat
112 gCarbs

Counts 6 of 7 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 6 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Lemonjuice of 1 lemon (48ml)12
Almond1 almond (1.2g)7
Seednot 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 Eliza Leslie. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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 + flourtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Cocoa + teatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-ethyl-3,6-dimethylpyrazine (roasted, nutty).

  3. Lemon + teatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together610 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  4. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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 bulk and nutty flavour, and when pounded smooth they give the cake its moist, fine crumb.
Eggs
Whipped whites and yolks add lift and structure, so the cake rises and sets light.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and, beaten with the yolks, helps create a stable, aerated mixture.
Flour
Gives the batter enough structure to hold its risen shape as it bakes.
Lemon essence
Adds a bright aroma that complements the almond flavour.

The step that matters

Folding in the whites and flour. Beaten egg whites hold the air that makes the cake rise. Adding flour slowly and lightly, and not deflating the whites, keeps the batter light so the cake bakes tender rather than dense.

Swap the cocoa

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, flour, sugar, lemon, butter, egg, tea):

  1. Pistachiofits better
  2. Chestnutfits better
  3. Hazelnutfits better
  4. Cocoathe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, flour, sugar, lemon, butter, egg, tea. 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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