Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Almond Tarts
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare the filling
Blanch the sweet and bitter almonds, then beat them in a mortar, adding rose-water as needed.
Mix in the powdered sugar and lemon juice and peel until well combined.
Assemble the tarts
Roll out the pastry and cut it into circular pieces about the size of a dollar.
Place a heaping spoonful of the almond mixture in the center of each pastry piece.
Cover with another piece of pastry and crimp the edges to seal.
Bake and finish
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 30 minutes.
Sprinkle granulated sugar over the tarts when done.
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.
-
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Lemon + rosetop 13% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,174 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
-
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body of the filling, giving it a soft, moist texture when ground.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a strong, distinctive almond aroma to the filling.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the filling and blends smoothly into the crushed almonds.
- Lemon
- Adds acidity and bright aroma that balance the sweetness of the filling.
- Fine pastry
- Forms the shell that encloses the filling and browns during baking.
The step that matters
Sealing the crimped edges. If the edges are not pressed tightly, the filling can leak during baking and the tarts can open or dry out. A firm seal keeps the almond mixture moist inside the pastry as it bakes.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, rose):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Orangefits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, rose. 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
Lemon Cake228 recipes
Lemon Ice147 recipes
Lemon Sherbet103 recipes
Lemon Custard64 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.