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Dessert

Bitter Almond Macaroons

A sweet treat made from blanched bitter almonds, powdered sugar, and egg whites, shaped into small balls and baked.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and sugar 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 Almond Macaroons

Oven, in the book's wordsA gentle oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a gentle oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds in boiling water, then dry them.

  2. Pound the almonds in a mortar until fine.

Make the paste

  1. Add the whites of 2 eggs to the almond paste.

  2. Sift the powdered sugar into the almond paste and mix well.

  3. Add the remaining egg whites and mix until combined.

Shape and bake

  1. Wet your fingers to prevent sticking, then form small lumps or balls of the paste.

  2. Optionally, use a piping bag to shape the macaroons.

  3. Dip your finger in cold water and touch the tops to make them shine.

  4. Bake in a slow oven (300°F or 150°C) until set.

  5. Remove from paper when cold.

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. Almond + sugartop 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

Bitter almonds
Provide the main flavour and the bulk of the almond paste.
Sugar
Sweetens the macaroons and helps bind the almond paste.
Egg whites
Bind the paste and help the macaroons set structure in the oven.

The step that matters

Bake in a slow oven until set. Baking at a low temperature dries the outside gently so the macaroons set without spreading or browning too quickly. Too high a heat can colour or crack them before the centres are set.

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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