Name: Almond Cake
Ingredients: 2 eggs; 1 cup sugar; 2 cups flour; ½ cup butter; ⅓ cup milk; 1 teaspoon cream of tartar; ⅛ teaspoon baking soda; ½ lb almonds; white sugar for sprinkling

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 Cake

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

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Blanch and slice the almonds.

Make the batter

In a bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the sugar until well combined.
Add the flour, butter, milk, cream of tartar, and dissolved baking soda. Mix until smooth.
Pour the batter into a square baking pan.

Top and bake

Spread the sliced almonds over the top of the batter and sprinkle with white sugar.
Bake until done, then cut into squares.

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.

Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together41,516 recipes

Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together43,450 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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

Eggs: Bind the batter and add structure as they set in the oven.
Flour: Provides the main structure of the cake as it sets.
Butter: Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
Sugar: Sweetens the cake and helps it brown on top.
Cream of tartar: Acidifies the batter, stabilizing it and helping the leavening react.
Almonds: Add crunch and nutty aroma to the topping.

“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.