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Dessert

Bitter Macaroons

A sweet almond-based cookie made with sugar, blanched almonds, and egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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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 ↓

Bitter Macaroons

Oven, in the book's wordsA slack oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a slack oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the paste

  1. Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).

  2. Pound the blanched almonds in a mortar with the egg whites gradually to prevent oil separation.

  3. Once the almonds are finely pounded, mix in the sifted sugar and 6 or 7 egg whites, adjusting for paste consistency.

Shape and bake

  1. Test the oven heat by baking one or two macaroons first.

  2. Wet your fingers with water to prevent sticking and drop the mixture in small lumps onto a baking sheet.

  3. Dip your hand in cold water and lightly touch the tops of the macaroons to make them shine.

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.

  1. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Blanched almonds
Provide the bulk and nutty flavour of the paste when pounded finely.
Egg whites
Bind the almond and sugar mixture into a paste that holds its shape.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the macaroons set and brown in the oven.

The step that matters

Pounding the almonds with the egg whites. Adding the egg whites gradually keeps the almond paste emulsified, preventing oil from separating out. Pounding until fine gives a smooth paste that bakes evenly.

Swap the almond

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):

  1. Pecansfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Milletfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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