Name: Irish Puffs
Ingredients: ¼ pound sweet almonds; 1 ounce bitter almonds; ¼ pound loaf sugar; 2 egg whites; powdered sugar for dusting; patty pans

Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Irish Puffs

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slow oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the mixture

Pound the sweet and bitter almonds coarsely.
Sift the loaf sugar and mix it with the beaten egg whites.
Combine the almond mixture with the sugar and egg whites.

Bake

Fill patty pans with the mixture and dust with powdered sugar.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven until light brown.

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.

Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,645 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Sweet almonds: Provide the main body and nutty flavor of the puffs.
Bitter almonds: Add a stronger, more aromatic almond flavor in small amount.
Loaf sugar: Sweetens the puffs and helps give the mixture body.
Egg whites: Whip into the mixture to add structure and lightness as the puffs bake.