Name: Almond Cracklings
Ingredients: 6 oz. scalded almonds, cut in short shreds; 4 oz. ground almonds; 10 oz. sifted sugar; 2 egg whites; a few drops of vanilla extract

Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Cracklings

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

Make and shape the dough

In a bowl, mix the scalded almonds, ground almonds, sifted sugar, egg whites, and vanilla extract until well combined.
Use a tablespoon to scoop out the mixture and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, spacing them 1.5 inches apart.
Shape each scoop into a circular form, about ¼ inch thick, using a wet fingertip to smooth the edges.

Bake

Bake in the preheated oven until they are light in color.

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 + vanillatop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together3,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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).
Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together27,347 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Scalded almonds: Provide the main body and nutty texture of the cracklings.
Ground almonds: Add fine almond structure that helps the cookies hold their shape.
Sifted sugar: Sweetens the cookies and contributes to browning as they bake.
Egg whites: Bind the mixture together and add structure as they set in the oven.