Why it works: Almond and flour 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 Cake
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.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Make the batter
Beat the egg yolks with the butter and 5 oz of sugar.
Blanch the sweet and bitter almonds, then pound them with 2 oz of sugar.
Add the lemon zest and juice to the almond mixture, then combine with the egg and sugar mixture.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then gently fold them into the mixture.
Gradually mix in the all-purpose flour and rice flour.
Bake
Pour the batter into a greased cake pan and bake for 1 hour.
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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Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + ricetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,456 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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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Rice + lemontop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together4,366 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Eggs
- Egg whites add lift and structure, while yolks add richness and tenderness.
- Butter
- Adds fat for a tender crumb and rich flavor.
- Sweet almonds
- Add nutty flavor, fat and moisture to the crumb.
- All-purpose flour
- Its proteins form the gluten network that gives the cake its structure.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps keep the cake moist and tender.
- Lemon
- Zest adds aroma and juice adds a bright acidity.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Stiff whites hold air that makes the cake rise. Folding gently keeps that air in, while vigorous stirring would deflate the batter and leave a denser cake.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, almond, flour, rice, egg):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Coconutfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, almond, flour, rice, egg. 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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