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 ↓
Maids of Honour
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 filling
Blanch and dry the almonds, then pound them in a mortar with the caster sugar until fine.
Add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing in the flour, cream, and orange-flower water.
Line, fill and bake
Line 8 or 9 small tartlet molds with the puff pastry.
Fill the molds with the mixture and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for about 15 minutes.
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 + orangetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,125 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Flour + eggtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Flour and egg 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
- Almonds
- Provide the main body and nutty flavour of the filling.
- Egg yolks
- Bind the mixture and add richness so it sets softly in the oven.
- Flour
- Gives the filling structure so it holds its shape when baked.
- Castor sugar
- Sweetens the filling and helps the almonds break down to a fine paste.
- Puff pastry
- Forms the crisp, flaky shell that holds the filling.
- Cream
- Adds moisture and richness to the filling.
The step that matters
Pounding the almonds until fine. Fine, evenly ground almonds blend smoothly with the yolks and flour, giving a uniform texture. Coarse pieces leave gritty patches and uneven setting in the filling.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, almond, flour, egg, cream):
- Raisinfits better
- Vanillafits better
- Figfits better
- Orangethe original
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, almond, flour, egg, cream. 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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