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 ↓
Tartlets of Almond Paste
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
Butter the smallest-sized patty pans.
Roll the almond paste as thin as possible and line the pans with it.
Trim the edges with a sharp knife.
Bake the tartlets slowly at the mouth of the cool oven until they are crisp and pale brown.
Remove them from the pans when they are two-thirds done and place them upside down on a sheet of paper or board.
Return them to the oven until fully crisp.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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