Why it works: Almond and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,245 recipes. Both carry 2,3-pentanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Salted Almonds
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Place the almonds in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Let them stand for 5 minutes.
Remove the skins from the almonds.
Transfer the almonds to cold water, then dry them thoroughly with a clean towel.
Toast and finish
In a clean pan, melt the butter over medium heat.
Add the almonds and sprinkle with salt. Shake constantly until they are a delicate brown.
Transfer the almonds to waxed paper and let them dry before serving.
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 + buttertop 11% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together9,245 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-pentanedione (butter, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the crunchy, nutty base that takes on color in the pan.
- Butter
- Conducts heat evenly and helps the almonds brown and taste rich.
The step that matters
Shake the almonds constantly while browning. Constant shaking keeps the almonds moving so heat spreads evenly. Their skins and sugars darken quickly, so pale can turn burnt within moments.
“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.
You might also like
Fritters56 recipes
Crisp Crackers7 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.