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
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Drop the almonds into hot water, bring to a boil, strain, and remove the skins.
Soak the almonds in cold water until ready to keep their color.
Chop the almonds finely, then pound them in a mortar with the orange flower water.
Make the paste
In a saucepan, combine the almonds, sugar, and eggs, stirring over very gentle heat until it reduces to a paste.
Use and set
Use the paste to cover a cake or as needed, and allow it to stand until firm.
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 + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together19,212 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together12,645 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
Sugar and orange 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
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body and flavor of the paste.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a stronger, more aromatic almond flavor to the paste.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the almonds and sugar together and add richness to the paste.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the paste and helps it thicken as it reduces.
The step that matters
Stirring over very gentle heat. Heating the almond, sugar and egg mixture gently keeps the eggs from scrambling or curdling while the paste thickens. High heat can cook the eggs unevenly and make the texture grainy.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, egg, sugar. 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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