Name: Almond Paste
Ingredients: ½ lb. ground almonds; 1 teaspoon orange flower water; 3 lbs. castor sugar; 3 eggs

Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Almond Paste

Ingredients

½ lb. ground almonds
1 teaspoon orange flower water
3 lbs. castor sugar
3 eggs

Directions

Combine the ground almonds, orange flower water, castor sugar, and eggs in a bowl. Mix until you achieve a stiff paste.
Use as required.

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.

Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,125 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Orange + sugartop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together12,645 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Orange and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Ground almonds: Provide the bulk and nutty flavour that forms the base of the paste.
Castor sugar: Adds sweetness and helps bind the almonds into a smooth, workable mass.
Eggs: Bind the almonds and sugar together so the mixture holds as a stiff paste.
Orange flower water: Adds a light floral aroma that flavours the paste.