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Dessert

Bitter Almond Macaroons

A sweet treat made from bitter almond paste, sugar, and egg whites, baked into small round macaroons.

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 (150°C) 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. Powder the sugar finely and sift it into the almond paste.

  3. Mix in the remaining egg whites until well 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 squeeze out small round macaroons.

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

  4. Bake in a gentle oven at 300°F (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 paste.
Sugar
Sweetens the macaroons and helps them set and brown while baking.
Egg whites
Bind the almond paste and give the macaroons their light structure.

The step that matters

Baking until set. A gentle oven lets the macaroons dry and set without spreading or browning too quickly. Too much heat can crack the tops or make them spread.

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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