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Dessert

Almond Tarts

Almond tarts are baked pastries with a chocolate‑almond filling, topped with whipped cream and candied cherries.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,733 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Almond Tarts

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make the batter

  1. Beat the yolks of the eggs until thick and lemon colored.

  2. Gradually add the powdered sugar while beating continuously.

  3. Mix the cracker dust with baking powder, chocolate, and almonds, then add to the egg mixture.

  4. Fold in the beaten egg whites gently.

Bake and finish

  1. Pour the mixture into muffin or gem pans and bake until set.

  2. Once cooled, remove the center of each tart.

  3. Fill the center with whipped cream and garnish with candied cherries before serving.

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.

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. Chocolate + almondtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,733 recipes

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

  2. Sugar + chocolatetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  3. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Egg + chocolatetop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Whipped whites give lift, while the yolks add richness and a set structure.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and dissolves into the yolks, helping the batter become smooth and thick.
Bitter chocolate
Contributes deep, bitter flavor and dark color to the tart base.
Baking powder
Releases gas in the oven, helping the tarts rise and become light.
Almonds
Add nutty flavor, body, and a tender, slightly oily crumb.
Cracker dust
Provides dry bulk that gives the batter structure and holds the tarts together.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites gently. Egg whites trap air that gives the tarts lift. Vigorous stirring deflates that foam, so the tarts bake up dense instead of light.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, chocolate):

  1. Pecansfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Hazelnutfits about as well
  4. Peanutfits about as well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, chocolate. 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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