Why it works: Flour and almond 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 Rounds
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the dough
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.
Add the flour and ground rice, then roll out the dough.
Cut into rounds with a fluted cutter.
Top and bake
Mix the ground almonds, egg white, sugar, and almond extract to form a paste.
Place a spoonful of the almond mixture on each round.
Bake in the preheated oven until golden.
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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Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + almondtop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,456 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together124,287 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Flour + sugartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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
- Butter
- Provides fat that gives the rounds a tender, crumbly texture.
- Flour
- Gives the dough its main structure once baked.
- Ground rice
- Adds a short, slightly sandy texture to the dough.
- Ground almonds
- Contribute nutty flavour and moisture to the almond topping.
- Egg white
- Binds the almond mixture and helps it set into a paste.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the topping brown during baking.
The step that matters
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beating air into the butter and sugar creates a light structure, so the rounds bake up tender rather than dense and heavy.
“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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