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
Ingredients
Directions
Make the paste
Blanch the almonds and soak them in cold water for 1-2 hours.
Wipe and pound the almonds into a fine paste, adding cold water as needed to prevent oiling.
Mix in the sugar thoroughly.
Cook and store
Place the mixture in a small pan over a gentle heat, stirring until it no longer sticks to your fingers.
Transfer the paste to a jar and let it cool before use.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Jordan almonds
- Provide the main body and rich nutty flavor of the paste.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a strong, characteristic almond aroma to the paste.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps bind and firm the paste as it cooks.
The step that matters
Adding cold water while pounding. Almonds release oil as they are crushed, and the paste can turn oily and separate. Adding small amounts of cold water keeps the oils emulsified and the texture smooth.
“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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