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Almond Comfits

Almond comfits are almonds coated in a gum and syrup mixture.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and syrup work together. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 746 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Almond Comfits

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Boil the almonds in water until peeled, then transfer them to cold water.

  2. Dry the almonds on sieves in the air, then finish drying in the stove.

  3. Dissolve gum Senegal in water and strain it through a silk sieve.

Make the syrup

  1. Boil the syrup until it reaches a strong thread stage.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of gum Senegal to the syrup for body.

  3. Place the syrup over low heat to maintain an even temperature.

Coat the almonds

  1. Put the blanched almonds in a comfit pan and add two charges of gum, drying well each time.

  2. Add a small charge of syrup, ensuring not to moisten too much.

  3. Gradually add syrup in six increments, increasing the amount each time.

  4. On the eighth charge, use half gum and half syrup, rubbing the almonds to prevent sticking.

  5. Continue until the comfits reach the desired size, sifting every tenth charge to remove sugar dust.

  6. Wash the pan if it becomes very rough.

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 + syruptop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

What each ingredient does

Jordan almonds
Form the core that is built up into the comfit through repeated thin sugar coatings.
Syrup
Builds up sugar layers around each almond as it dries, giving the comfit its size and crunch.
Gum senegal
Adds body to the syrup and helps each coating dry smooth and resist cracking.

The step that matters

Adding syrup and gum charges while drying. Each charge must be dry before the next is added, or the almonds stay wet and sticky and the sugar layers crystallise unevenly or clump together.

“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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