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Almond Soup

A thickened almond soup made with almonds, egg yolks, milk, cream, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Almond Soup

Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Almond Soup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the almond base

  1. Beat the almonds in a marble mortar with the egg yolks until a fine paste forms.

  2. Gradually mix in the milk, cream, and sugar, stirring well.

Thicken and serve

  1. Set the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly until it thickens.

  2. Remove from heat, pour into a dish, and serve.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

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

  5. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

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

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Form the bulk of the paste, giving the soup its body and nutty flavour.
Hard-boiled egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the mixture as it thickens.
Whole milk
Provides the liquid base and adds creaminess.
Heavy cream
Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture.
Double refined sugar
Adds sweetness and balances the almond flavour.

The step that matters

Stirring over low heat until it thickens. Heating the mixture gently while stirring constantly keeps the egg yolks from overheating and curdling, and lets the starches and proteins thicken it smoothly.

Swap the almond

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, milk, cream, sugar. 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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