Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Almond Paste

Analysing hundreds of thousands of recipes uncovers almond paste's optimal flavour pairings.

Nutty aroma and apricot-like notes are at the forefront of almond paste's flavour profile, but identifying its perfect partner requires exploring its subtle nuances. We must examine the complex interplay of notes within its bouquet, like honey, cherry, and hints of vanilla. We need to understand how these notes affect each other and which complementary flavors they harmonise with.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our findings reveal, for instance, how yogurt's lacteal tones can enrich almond paste, or how white vinegar's astringent notes create an unexpectedly harmonious bridge with the nutty aroma.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. floral, nectarous, and acidic) enhanced by layers of subtle aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim for a mix of core traits to build balance, and select complementary aroma notes to create harmony.

The Flavour Code

To understand exactly which flavours harmonise, we compiled a database of over 50,000 ingredient pairings commonly used in cooking. We then analysed these pairings, identifying the specific flavour notes that frequently appear together.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Almond Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of almond is strongly associated with the flavour of polyphenol. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a astringent flavour, such as white vinegar, when pairing with the almond aroma accents of almond paste.

The recipes below provide inspiration for pairing almond paste with white vinegar.

Harmonious Flavours Of Almond Paste

Just as our analysis shows that almond and astringent notes frequently pair together, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavour notes present in almond paste. For instance, the honeyed accents of almond paste are strongly associated with cedar and chalky accents.

The aroma accents complementing the various accents of almond paste can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of yogurt offers many of the accents complementary to almond paste, including lacteal and glutamic notes. Because the flavour profile of yogurt has many of the of the features that are complementary to almond paste, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of yogurt across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with almond paste.

Recipes That Pair Almond Paste With Yogurt

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the aromas that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of almond paste, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of almond paste, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the aroma notes complementary to almond paste.

What To Drink With Almond Paste

The lacteal notes in chai latte make it a perfect pairing with almond paste. Likewise, the astringent flavours in tea bag create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of almond paste below.

Which Fruit Go With Almond Paste?

Choose fruit that embrace its vanilliness or infuse with its nutty aroma. Redcurrant and cranberry offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Currant add a gentle, oniony brightness, while rhubarb introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace fruit that harmonise with almond paste's sweetness. The addition of blackcurrant, with its subtle theaflavinic notes, can complement the sugar beautifully, while pink grapefruit lends a mouth-drying sensation.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Almond paste), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.