Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓
Cheese-cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the almond batter
Beat the yolks of the eggs until very stiff.
Add the powdered sugar and ground almonds, and mix until very white.
Melt the butter and add it to the mixture just before filling the pans.
Make the curd version
For the curd version, press whey from enough curd to fill two dozen patty pans.
Rub the curds through a sieve with butter.
Add the beaten yolks of six eggs, beaten whites of three eggs, and powdered almonds.
Sweeten to taste with sugar and mix in orange juice and zest.
Blend thoroughly.
Fill and bake
Line small patty pans with thin pastry.
Fill the patty pans two-thirds full and bake immediately.
Fill the patty pans.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
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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Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg yolks
- Beaten until stiff, they give the batter structure and richness.
- Egg whites
- Beaten whites add lightness and help the filling set as it bakes.
- Ground almonds
- Provide body, flavour and a tender, moist crumb in the filling.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps it turn pale and smooth when mixed.
- Butter
- Adds richness and moisture, making the filling tender and smooth.
The step that matters
Fill and bake immediately after adding the butter. Once the melted butter is mixed in, the batter begins to lose its airiness. Filling the pans and baking right away keeps the stiffly beaten egg structure intact so the cakes rise and set properly.
“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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