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Almond Chsebecakss

A sweet almond-based cheesecake baked in puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Almond Chsebecakss

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the filling

  1. Blanch and finely pound the almonds with orange-flower water to prevent oiling.

  2. Beat the egg yolks and egg whites well, then mix with the almonds.

  3. Add sugar and nutmeg or mace to the mixture.

  4. Melt the butter and mix in grated lemon peel, then combine everything in a mortar.

Bake

  1. Line small tart pans with puff pastry and fill them three-quarters full.

  2. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until pale brown.

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. Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,634 recipes

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

  2. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Nutmeg + lemontop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Orange + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,746 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

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

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds
Provide the bulk of the filling and its nutty flavor and body.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help bind and set the filling as it bakes.
Egg whites
Add lightness and help the filling set into a tender structure.
Sugar
Sweetens the filling and aids browning as it bakes.
Butter
Adds fat for a rich, tender texture.
Puff pastry
Forms the crisp shell that holds the filling.

The step that matters

Pound the almonds with orange-flower water. Finely pounding the almonds with a little liquid keeps them from releasing oil, which would make the filling greasy and separate it. Blanching first gives a smooth, even texture.

Swap the orange

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

  1. Vanillafits about as well
  2. Figfits about as well
  3. Raisinfits about as well
  4. Orangethe original

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