Why it works: Almond and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Almond Pudding
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Scald and peel the sweet and bitter almonds, then pound them to a smooth paste.
Cream together the powdered sugar and butter until smooth.
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Make the pudding
Alternately stir the pounded almonds and beaten egg whites into the butter and sugar mixture until well combined.
Transfer the mixture to a buttered dish and place puff pastry around the edge.
Bake and serve
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 30 minutes.
Grate sugar over the top before serving.
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 + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
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Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the bulk and nutty flavour of the pudding, forming a moist, dense paste.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the batter and help it rise and set in the oven.
- Butter
- Creamed with sugar to add richness, fat and a tender crumb.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the pudding and dissolves smoothly into the creamed butter.
The step that matters
Folding in the egg whites. Stir the almonds and whipped whites in gently and alternately so the foam is not deflated. Losing the air from the whites leaves a dense, flat pudding instead of a light one.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, butter, egg):
- Almondthe original
- Pecansfits about as well
- Filbertfits less well
- Walnutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, butter, 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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