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Dessert

Almond Tarts

Almond tarts are small pastry shells filled with a sweet almond mixture and topped with red currant jelly.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 14 ingredients
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Why it works: Flour and almond 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 Tarts

12 patty tins
Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

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.

Make the pastry

  1. In a bowl, rub the butter into the flour, then add sugar, egg yolk, and lemon juice.

  2. Mix in cold water to form a paste.

  3. Roll out the paste and cut into rounds to line 12 patty tins.

Make the filling

  1. In another bowl, cream the butter and sugar, then beat in the egg whites.

  2. Add ground almonds, sherry, and almond essence, mixing well.

  3. Fill the lined tins with the almond mixture.

Bake and finish

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until golden.

  3. Once baked, spread a little red currant jelly on top and sprinkle with chopped almonds.

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.

  1. Flour + almondtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Almond + red curranttop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together90 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Lemon + almondtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Butter + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,245 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).

  5. Lemon + red curranttop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together309 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

All-purpose flour
Forms the structure of the pastry shell when combined with fat and liquid.
Butter
Rubbed into flour to make the pastry tender, and creamed with sugar to give the filling body.
Egg whites
Add structure and lightness to the almond filling as they set in the oven.
Ground almonds
Provide the main nutty flavour and a moist, dense texture in the filling.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the filling brown during baking.
Red currant jelly
Adds sweetness and a glossy finish to the baked tarts.

The step that matters

Baking until golden, not longer. The filling is delicate and the pastry is thin, so over-baking dries the almond mixture and toughens the shell. Checking at the minimum time helps keep it moist while still browning the top.

Swap the red currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (flour, butter, sugar, egg, lemon, almond, sherry):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Red currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against flour, butter, sugar, egg, lemon, almond, sherry. 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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