Why it works: Almond and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 16% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,130 recipes. Both carry 2-heptanol, which smells bitter, floral. The science ↓
Almonds Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Blanch almonds by pouring boiling water over them and rubbing off the skins.
Chop the almonds slightly, then roll them with a rolling pin on a marble slab, sprinkling a little sugar underneath.
For cochineal coloring, mix 2 teaspoons pulverized cochineal, 1 teaspoon alum, and 1 teaspoon cream of tartar in 1 cup hot water.
Bottle and cork the mixture for future use, adjusting the amount for desired shade.
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 + creamtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,130 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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