Why it works: Almond and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Almond Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Blanch the almonds and remove their skins.
Rub the almonds into a smooth paste, adding rose water gradually to moisten.
Mix the almond paste with plain icing.
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 + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the main flavour and body, forming the paste that gives the icing its texture.
- Rose water
- Moistens the almond paste so it can be worked into a smooth, spreadable consistency.
- Plain icing
- Adds sweetness and binds with the almond paste to form the finished icing.
The step that matters
Rub the almonds into a smooth paste, adding rose water gradually. Adding rose water all at once can make the paste wet and lumpy, while adding it slowly lets the almond oils and fibres absorb the liquid evenly, giving a smooth texture.
“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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