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 ↓
Neapolitan Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a good oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the paste
Blanch and pound the sweet and bitter almonds to a smooth paste, adding a little orange-flower water or rose-water to prevent oiling.
Mix in a pinch of salt, grated lemon rind, butter, sifted sugar, and flour until well combined.
Incorporate the well-beaten egg yolks and let the mixture rest in a cool place for 30 minutes.
Bake and assemble
Roll out the paste to ¼ inch thick and cut into rounds the size of a saucer.
Place the rounds on a floured baking sheet and bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until firm and lightly colored, about 30 minutes.
Trim the edges of the baked rounds and let them cool completely.
Spread a thick layer of differently colored jam on top of each round and stack them, pressing lightly to adhere.
Before serving, sift a little pink sugar over the top or garnish as desired.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body of the paste, with rich nutty flavor and a smooth texture when pounded.
- Butter
- Adds fat for tenderness and a rich, crumbly texture in the baked rounds.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the paste and helps the rounds brown lightly in the oven.
- Flour
- Gives the paste structure so the rounds hold their shape when baked.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and binding, helping the paste set firm in the oven.
- Jam (in the method)
- Adds sweetness and moisture between the rounds, helping them stick together.
The step that matters
Pressing the paste to a consistent thickness and resting it. Rolling the paste evenly to ¼ inch makes the rounds bake through at the same rate. Resting the chilled mixture firms the butter so the rounds keep their shape instead of spreading.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, lemon, butter, sugar, flour, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits about as well
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, lemon, butter, sugar, flour, egg. 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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