Name: Bulvah, or Indian Almond Toffee
Ingredients: equal weights of flour; equal weights of butter; equal weights of sultanas; equal weights of almonds; equal weights of sugar; water (as needed)

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 ↓

Bulvah, or Indian Almond Toffee

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

Melt the butter in a pan.
Gradually mix in the flour to form a paste.
Add the sultanas and blanched, sliced almonds.

Make the syrup and set

Boil the sugar with a little water to make a thick syrup.
Stir until a drop in water sets.
Pour the mixture into a buttered dish.

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.

Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,245 recipes

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

Smell alikelow

Cooked together124,287 recipes

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

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together98,233 recipes

Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

Flour and butter 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

Flour: Thickens the melted butter into a paste that gives the toffee body.
Butter: Adds fat for richness, a smooth texture and buttery flavour.
Sultanas: Add chewy sweetness and moisture to the toffee.
Almonds: Add crunch and a nutty flavour that contrasts with the soft base.
Sugar: Forms a syrup that hardens as it cools, setting the toffee firm.

The step that matters

Stir until a drop in water sets. Sugar syrup firms as its water evaporates and its concentration rises. Testing a drop in cold water shows when it is hot enough to set firm. Stopping too early leaves the toffee soft and sticky, while going too far can scorch it and taste bitter.

“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.

Almond Sponge Cake26 recipes

Almond Custard22 recipes

Almond Wafers22 recipes

Coconut Almond Cake17 recipes

Like knowing why a recipe works?

The 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.

Bulvah, or Indian Almond Toffee