Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Bourbon Cake
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the batter
Beat the yolks of 10 eggs and the whites of 5 eggs separately until well combined.
Mix in the grated loaf sugar and grated peel of 2 bitter oranges.
Add the blanched and pounded sweet almonds with a little rose water.
Whisk all ingredients together for 30 minutes.
Gradually mix in the dried and sifted flour.
Bake and finish
Pour the batter into a hoop about 3 inches deep.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F (175°C) for 1 hour and 15 minutes.
Once baked, remove from the frame and ice the top and sides.
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 + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together1,465 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 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
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and fat, helping the cake set tender and moist.
- Egg whites
- Whisked to trap air, giving the cake lift and a light, open crumb.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the batter and helps brown the crust as it bakes.
- Sweet almonds
- Add fat and moisture, giving the cake a dense, tender, nutty texture.
- Flour
- Provides structure, setting as the eggs and starch cook through.
The step that matters
Whisking the batter for 30 minutes. Long whisking traps air in the egg mixture, which provides the cake's rise. Flour should be folded in gently afterward so the trapped air is not knocked out and the cake stays light.
Swap the bitter orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, almond, rose, flour):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Bitter orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, almond, rose, flour. 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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