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Dessert

Almond Filling, No. 1

A sweet almond cream used as a filling between cake layers.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 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 Filling, No. 1

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the cream in a saucepan.

  2. In a bowl, mix the flour with the cold milk and stir into the beaten egg yolks with sugar.

  3. Pour the mixture into the boiling cream and cook until thick.

  4. Stir in the chopped almonds and spread between the cake layers.

  5. Flavor the icing with almond extract.

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. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

  3. Flour + milktop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together78,219 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together92,116 recipes

    Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).

  5. Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together106,462 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

Flour and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 78,219 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

Cream
Provides richness and body, creating a smooth, thick filling base.
Egg yolks
Thicken the mixture as they set with heat, giving the filling structure and richness.
Flour
Stabilizes the custard, helping it thicken smoothly without curdling.
Almonds
Add texture and nutty flavor to the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the cream and yolks.

The step that matters

Pour the mixture into the boiling cream and cook until thick. Egg yolks can scramble or curdle if overheated or added too quickly. Stirring constantly while adding the egg mixture to hot cream and cooking gently lets the yolks thicken the custard smoothly.

“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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