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Dessert

Almond Icebergs

A dessert of almonds folded into stiff meringue, baked until set and dusted with icing sugar.

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 ↓

Almond Icebergs

Oven, in the book's wordsA cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the almonds

  1. Brown the almonds in the oven until golden.

  2. Let the almonds cool, then fold them into the stiff meringue mixture.

Shape and bake

  1. Drop the mixture in large, rough mounds on a baking sheet.

  2. Dust the tops with icing sugar.

  3. Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.

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).

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

What each ingredient does

Almonds
Provide the nutty flavour and crisp texture that contrast with the soft meringue.
Stiff meringue mixture
Forms the light, airy structure that holds the mounds together while baking.
Icing sugar
Dusts the tops, adding sweetness and a light, delicate crust as they bake.

The step that matters

Bake in a cool oven until set. A low oven dries and sets the meringue gently, so it firms without browning too quickly or collapsing. Baking too hot can scorch the surface before the centre sets.

“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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