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 says “a rather quick oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream together the sugar and butter until light and fluffy.
Add the milk, cornstarch, flour, baking powder, and mix well.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the beaten egg whites into the batter.
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan.
Bake and ice
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
For the icing, boil 2 cups of sugar with a little water until it forms a string.
Slowly pour the syrup over the beaten whites of 3 eggs.
Add the pounded almonds to half of the icing and frost the cake with it.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Butter + milktop 7% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together81,283 recipes
Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Milk + flourtop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together78,219 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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
- Butter
- Creaming with sugar traps air and gives the cake a tender, rich texture.
- Egg whites
- Beaten to stiff peaks, they trap air that lifts and lightens the batter.
- Cornstarch
- Softens the flour's gluten, giving the cake a fine, delicate crumb.
- Flour
- Provides the main structure that sets as the cake bakes.
- Baking powder
- Releases gas during baking, helping the cake rise.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cake and helps it brown and stay moist.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stirring vigorously knocks out the air trapped in the whites, so the cake rises less and turns dense. Fold gently with a spatula, cutting through and turning the batter, to keep the lift.
“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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