Why it works: Almond and apricot match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 852 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Apricot Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the pastry
Roll the pastry into a round the size of a dinner plate.
Shape the scraps of pastry into a cord.
Wet the edge of the round pastry.
Stick the cord of pastry around the edge, half an inch from the edge.
Place the pastry on a flat tin.
Make two or three incisions in the center with a fork.
Bake at 400°F (200°C) until light brown.
Make the meringue border
Whip the egg whites until stiff.
Sweeten the egg whites with 2 ounces of sugar.
Add a little almond essence to the egg whites.
Use a piping bag to decorate the edge of the pastry with the whipped egg whites.
Dust the pastry with sugar.
Return the pastry to the oven to lightly brown and set.
Make the syrup and serve
In a saucepan, combine ¼ pint of apricot juice and 3 ounces of sugar.
Boil the mixture until it sets.
Test the syrup by dropping a little on a plate and allow it to cool.
Once the pastry is cool, arrange the apricots in the center.
Pour the syrup over the apricots.
Serve when the syrup is set.
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 + apricottop 5% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together852 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,842 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Apricot + syruptop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together451 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
-
Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + apricottop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,630 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam that forms the light, set meringue border on the pastry.
- Apricots
- Provide the fruit filling in the center, flavour and softness to the cake.
- Apricot juice
- Combined with sugar and boiled to make the glossy syrup that sets over the fruit.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the meringue and, boiled with juice, forms the setting syrup.
The step that matters
Boiling the apricot syrup until it sets. Sugar syrup sets only at a high enough concentration; under-boiled syrup stays runny, while over-boiling makes it hard. Testing a drop on a cooled plate shows whether it has reached the right set.
Swap the apricot
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, almond, egg, syrup):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits about as well
- Apricotthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, almond, egg, syrup. 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.
You might also like
Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes
Apricot Ice Cream26 recipes
Almond Custard22 recipes
Almond Wafers22 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.