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Almond Sticks

Sliced loaves of almond, citron and anise dough, baked as small sticks.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 9 ingredients
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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 ↓

Almond Sticks

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the mixture

  1. Blanch the almonds.

  2. Chop the citron and almonds together finely.

  3. Mix all the ingredients except the egg whites thoroughly.

  4. Add the beaten egg whites.

  5. Work in as much flour as possible.

Shape and rest

  1. Mould into two loaves, each about 14 inches long, 4 inches wide, and 2 inches deep.

  2. Cover with a cloth.

  3. Let stand until morning.

Bake

  1. Slice thin.

  2. Place in a tin not too close together.

  3. Bake.

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. Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Almond + anisetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together55 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Anise + flourtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together270 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  4. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

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

  5. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 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

Eggs
Beaten whites add lift and a light, airy structure to the dough.
Baking powder
Releases gas during baking, helping the sticks rise and become tender.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the crust brown during baking.
Butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
Almonds
Provide nutty flavour and a firm, crunchy texture.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the loaves together.

The step that matters

Slice thin. Loaves that are sliced while still warm can crumble, and thin slices dry out and crisp evenly in the oven. Let the loaves rest and cool enough to hold a clean cut before slicing.

Swap the anise

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Capersfits better
  4. Anisethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, butter, almond, flour. 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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