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Dessert

Cheesecakes of Almonds

A tartlet of almond-based cheesecake baked in puff pastry.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and nutmeg match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 2,115 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Cheesecakes of Almonds

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the filling

  1. Blanch the sweet and bitter almonds, then pound them very fine.

  2. In a bowl, mix the ground almonds with the egg yolks and sugar; beat well for 10 minutes.

  3. On a pewter plate, beat the egg whites with a knife until stiff, then fold them into the almond mixture.

  4. Add the grated lemon rind, apricot jam, nutmeg, and brandy; mix well.

Fill and bake

  1. Line tartlet pans with puff pastry, cut out with a cutter.

  2. Fill the pans half full with the cheesecake mixture.

  3. Bake until golden brown.

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. Almond + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,115 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Almond + apricottop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together852 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  3. Lemon + nutmegtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together11,318 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Apricot + brandytop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together513 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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 nutty flavour of the filling once ground.
Egg yolks
Add richness and help bind the almond mixture together.
Egg whites
Whipped until stiff, they lighten the filling and help it rise and set.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the yolks thicken as they are beaten.
Apricot jam
Adds sweetness and fruity flavour, and moisture to the filling.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whipped egg whites hold air that gives the filling its lightness. Stirring them in vigorously knocks out that air, so fold gently and only until no white streaks remain.

Swap the lemon

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, egg, sugar, apricot, nutmeg, brandy):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Figfits better
  3. Peachfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, egg, sugar, apricot, nutmeg, brandy. 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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