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Dessert

Swedish Macaroons

A sweet almond-based cookie with orange zest, baked into walnut-sized balls.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

Swedish Macaroons

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Prepare

  1. Mix shredded almonds, ground almonds, corn flour, sugar, eggs, and orange zest until well combined.

  2. Roll the mixture into balls the size of small walnuts.

  3. Place the balls on sheet wafers on baking sheets.

Bake

  1. Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until light in color.

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 + flourtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,673 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  2. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  3. Almond + corntop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together485 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  4. Corn + orangetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together586 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  5. Corn + flourtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,165 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

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

What each ingredient does

Shredded almonds
Provide the bulk and chewy texture of the macaroon.
Ground almonds
Give a fine, tender crumb and almond flavor throughout the batter.
Fine sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the surface brown during baking.
Eggs
Bind the mixture together and add moisture and structure.
Indian corn flour
Adds starch that helps the balls hold their shape while baking.

The step that matters

Bake until light in color. Baking only until the macaroons are light keeps them moist and chewy; over-baking dries the almond mixture and darkens the sugar, making them hard and bitter.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, corn, flour, sugar, egg):

  1. Raisinfits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, corn, flour, 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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