Why it works: Hazelnut and almond match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 186 recipes. Both carry coumarin, which smells sweet, hay. The science ↓
Filbebt Tartlets
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
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Blanch and peel the filberts, then chop them finely.
Mix cornflour with cream or milk.
Stir the mixture over low heat until it thickens.
Cream the egg yolks and caster sugar together until thick and smooth.
Add the prepared nuts and ground almonds to the egg mixture.
Stir in the thickened cornflour mixture.
Assemble and bake
Line twelve patty pans with pastry dough.
Fill the pans with the nut mixture.
Place two thin strips of pastry across each tartlet.
Brush the strips with milk.
Sprinkle the strips with caster sugar.
Bake for about 20 minutes.
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.
-
Hazelnut + almondtop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together186 recipes
Shared aroma: coumarin (sweet, hay).
-
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
-
Filbert + almondtop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together80 recipes
Shared aroma: acetylpyrazine (roast).
-
Filbert + hazelnuttop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together21 recipes
Shared aroma: trans-2-nonenal (cardboard, fatty).
-
Filbert + creamtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Filberts (hazelnuts)
- Provide the main nutty flavour and bulk of the filling.
- Ground almonds
- Add richness and a tender, moist texture to the filling.
- Egg yolks
- Enrich the filling and help it set firm when baked.
- Cornflour (cornstarch)
- Thickens the cream or milk so the filling holds its body.
- Caster sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the strips brown on top.
- Pastry dough
- Forms the crisp base and shell that holds the filling.
The step that matters
Stirring the cornflour mixture over low heat. Cornflour thickens when heated but can go lumpy or scorch if the heat is too high or it is not stirred constantly. Gentle, steady stirring gives a smooth base that blends evenly into the egg filling.
Swap the filbert
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (hazelnut, almond, sugar, egg, cream):
- Pistachiofits better
- Brazil nutfits better
- Cashew nutfits better
- Filbertthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against hazelnut, almond, sugar, egg, cream. 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.
You might also like
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipes
Coconut Almond Cake17 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.