Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Almond Paste for Simnel Cake
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the sugar and ground almonds.
Add the flavoring essence and mix well.
Make a stiff paste by adding the yolks and whites of one egg.
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 + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Ground almonds
- Form the bulk of the paste and add nutty flavor and body.
- Caster sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps give the paste a smooth, fine texture.
- Eggs
- Bind the almonds and sugar together and add moisture to form a paste.
The step that matters
Make a stiff paste by adding the yolks and whites of one egg.. Egg adds moisture that binds the ground almonds and sugar. Adding too much liquid makes the mixture soft and sticky, so it will not hold its shape. Add the egg gradually and stop once the paste is stiff.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Pecansfits about as well
- Almondthe original
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against 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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