Why it works: Sugar and almond 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 ↓
Rose Almonds
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine sugar and water, then heat until sugar is dissolved.
Add liquid carmine to the syrup for coloring.
Coat the almonds
On the third day, add gum Senegal to the syrup.
Ensure almonds are lukewarm to prevent blotching.
Gradually reduce the amount of syrup for each charge, finishing with a very small amount.
Finish and gloss
On the fourth day, smooth the almonds with fine sugar, without color, applying three charges for gloss.
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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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Dissolved in water to form the syrup that coats and sweetens the almonds.
- Gum senegal
- Thickens the syrup so it builds up an even, smooth coating on the almonds.
- Liquid carmine
- Supplies the pink-red colour of the syrup coating.
- Almonds
- Form the core that the syrup is layered onto in successive charges.
The step that matters
Keep the almonds lukewarm during coating. If the almonds are too hot or too cold, the syrup can dry unevenly and form blotches instead of a smooth, even layer.
“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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