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Dessert

Mountain of Almonds

A cylindrical almond confection with whipped cream center and sugar net.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Mountain of Almonds

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.

Make and bake the almond base

  1. Crush the almonds very finely.

  2. In a bowl, mix the crushed almonds with the egg whites and ¾ pound of sugar until well combined.

  3. Gradually stir in another ½ pound of sifted sugar.

  4. Spread the mixture on a buttered baking sheet and bake at 350°F (175°C) until set.

Assemble and decorate

  1. Once baked, cut into long pieces and arrange them upright in a cylindrical shape on a dish, securing with melted sugar.

  2. Fill the center of the cylinder with whipped cream.

  3. Drizzle melted sugar over the entire structure to create a decorative net.

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. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  3. Almond + buttertop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Almond + creamtop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,130 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  5. Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Provide the bulk and nutty flavor, forming the body of the baked structure.
Egg whites
Bind the mixture and help it set firm in the oven so the pieces can stand.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, once melted, acts as glue to hold the pieces together.
Whipped cream
Adds moisture and a light, soft texture inside the cylinder.

The step that matters

Baking until set. The almond mixture must be fully set before cutting, otherwise the long pieces will be too soft to stand upright and hold the cylinder shape.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, butter, cream):

  1. Almondthe original
  2. Pecansfits about as well
  3. Filbertfits less well
  4. Pistachiofits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, butter, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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