Name: Almond Cream
Ingredients: 1 ounce blanched sweet almonds; 1 ounce grated Castile soap; 1 ounce oil of almonds; 6 drams white wax; 3 drams spermaceti; 4 drams oil of bergamot; 4 drams oil of lavender; 3 quarts rose water; 1 pint alcohol

Why it works: Bergamot and lavender work together. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 82 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Almond Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Rub the almonds and Castile soap together in a mortar until well combined.
Add the oil of almonds, white wax, and spermaceti, and mix until smooth.
Incorporate the oil of bergamot and oil of lavender.
Gradually add the rose water and alcohol, mixing thoroughly to create a smooth emulsion.
Strain the mixture to remove any solids.

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.

Bergamot + lavendertop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together82 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Bergamot + rosetop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together61 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,465 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Lavender + rosetop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together149 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Almond + bergamottop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together48 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).