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Dessert

Almond Cake

A sweet cake with almond filling and frosting.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and almond 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 ↓

Almond Cake

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. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Make the cake

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

  2. Cream together the sugar and butter.

  3. Add the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition.

  4. Stir in the flour, milk, and baking powder until smooth.

  5. Divide the batter into two greased cake pans and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Make the filling

  1. For the filling, cook the cream, egg yolks, and sugar in a saucepan until thickened.

  2. Stir in the cornstarch and let cool, then flavor with almond and add chopped blanched almonds.

Make the frosting

  1. For the frosting, combine sugar and water in a saucepan and cook until it forms a soft ball in cold water.

  2. Beat the hot syrup into the egg white until glossy and fluffy, then flavor with almond.

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. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  3. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  4. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  5. Butter + almondtop 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

Eggs
Provide structure and moisture, and help the batter rise and bind.
Flour
Forms the structure that holds the cake together as it bakes.
Butter
Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking so the cake rises.
Sugar
Sweetens the cake and helps give it a tender texture.
Cornstarch
Thickens the cream filling as it cooks.

The step that matters

Cooking the frosting syrup to soft ball stage. The sugar syrup must reach the soft ball stage so it sets properly when beaten into the egg white. Too little cooking leaves the frosting runny, while overcooking makes it hard and grainy.

“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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