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Rose Almonds

A confection of almonds coated in rose-flavored sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Rose and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Rose Almonds

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. In a saucepan, combine sugar and water distilled from rose or orange flowers, then heat until the sugar is dissolved.

  2. Add liquid carmine to the syrup for coloring.

Coat the almonds

  1. On the third day, add gum Senegal to the syrup.

  2. Ensure the almonds are lukewarm to prevent blotching.

  3. Gradually decrease the amount of syrup for each charge, finishing with a very small amount.

  4. On the fourth day, smooth the almonds with fine sugar, without color, applying three charges for a glossy finish.

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. Rose + almondtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

  3. Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,584 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Forms the syrup that dries into a crisp, sweet coating around the almonds.
Water distilled from rose or orange flowers
Carries a floral aroma into the syrup and coating.
Liquid carmine
Colors the syrup, giving the coating its pink shade.
Gum senegal
Helps the syrup stay smooth and glossy rather than grainy as it dries.
Almonds
Form the nut centre that each thin layer of syrup builds up around.

The step that matters

Keep the almonds lukewarm before coating. Almonds that are too cold or too hot can make the syrup dry unevenly and form blotches. Lukewarm almonds let each thin charge of syrup dry evenly and set with a smooth, glossy finish.

“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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