Name: Tartelettes a LA Jamaique- -jamaica Tartlets
Ingredients: 4 ounces peeled almonds; 5 whole eggs; 6 ounces powdered sugar; 4 ounces melted butter; 1 ounce sifted flour; ½ cup rhum

Why it works: Almond and flour 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 ↓

Tartelettes a LA Jamaique- -jamaica Tartlets

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Line small tartlet molds.
Pound almonds in a mortar with eggs.
Add powdered sugar, melted butter, sifted flour, and rhum; mix well.
Fill the lined molds with the mixture.

Bake and finish

Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C).
Dip the tops in rhum icing after baking.

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.

Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 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

Almonds: Provide the main body and nutty flavour of the tartlet filling.
Eggs: Bind the mixture and help it set into a firm, sliceable texture when baked.
Powdered sugar: Adds sweetness and helps give the filling a fine, tender texture.
Melted butter: Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
Flour: Gives the tartlets structure so they hold their shape after baking.
Rhum: Adds aroma and flavour to the filling and the icing.

“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.