Name: Almond Icing for Rich Cakes
Ingredients: 1 cup ground almonds; 1 cup icing sugar; 1 egg

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 Icing for Rich Cakes

Ingredients

1 cup ground almonds
1 cup icing sugar
1 egg

Directions

Make the icing

Mix ground almonds and icing sugar with the egg to form a firm paste.
Roll out the paste to about ¼ inch thickness to the size required.

Apply and dry

Place the rolled icing on the trimmed cake.
Let it stand to dry for a day.
Cover with sugar icing as per the next recipe.

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.

Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked 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: Provide the bulk and nutty flavour of the firm marzipan-style paste.
Icing sugar: Adds sweetness and fine texture so the paste rolls smoothly.
Egg: Binds the almonds and sugar into a firm, cohesive paste.