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 ↓
Almond Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks, powdered sugar, and ground almonds until very light.
Add the egg whites and beat until very stiff.
Gently fold in the flour.
Bake
Bake in a prepared Savoy cake mold without sugar on the sides.
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.
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Beaten until stiff, they trap air that lifts and gives the cake a light, airy crumb.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and fat, and beaten with sugar they build a light, tender structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the cake and, beaten with the yolks, helps create a light texture.
- Ground sweet almonds
- Add moisture, nutty flavor, and tenderness to the crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the structure that holds the cake together once baked.
The step that matters
Gently fold in the flour. Folding keeps the air trapped in the stiffly beaten egg whites intact. Vigorous stirring deflates the foam and produces a dense, heavy cake.
“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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