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Dessert

Almond Flummery

A dessert made from boiled calf's feet, thick cream, and blended sweet and bitter almonds, strained and cooled.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and almond 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 ↓

Almond Flummery

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the jelly

  1. Boil the calves' feet in water until the meat falls from the bones.

  2. Strain the mixture to obtain clear jelly.

Add the cream and almonds

  1. Stir in the thick cream.

  2. Blend the sweet and bitter almonds until well beaten.

  3. Add the blended almonds to the mixture.

  4. Heat the combined ingredients in a porcelain kettle until boiling.

  5. Strain the mixture again.

Cool and serve

  1. Let it cool to warm.

  2. Pour into cups or glasses.

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. Cream + almondtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

What each ingredient does

Calves' feet
Their collagen releases gelatin as they simmer, which lets the liquid set into a jelly.
Thick cream
Adds richness and a smooth, velvety body to the set dessert.
Sweet almonds
Form the bulk of the almond base, giving a mild, nutty flavor and body.
Bitter almonds
Used in small amounts to add a concentrated, sharper almond aroma.

The step that matters

Heating the combined mixture to boiling. Cream and almond solids can scorch or stick to the bottom of the pan when heated hard, and the milk proteins can turn grainy if overheated. Heating gently and stirring keeps the mixture smooth.

“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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