Name: Frenxh Macaroons
Ingredients: 1 pound almonds; 2 pounds pulverized sugar; 2 cups sugar; 1 cup sweet milk; 1 teaspoon butter; 5 cups flour; 0 teaspoons baking powder; 2 cups mashed potatoes; 1 pound currants; 1 pound raisins; 1 tablespoon cinna- mon; 1 cup butter; 2 cups brown sugar; 1 cup butter- milk; 1 teaspoon soda; 1 teaspoon lemon extract; 1 teaspoon each cin- namon; a pinch of salt; 12 whites of egg; 3 large potatoes mashed; 3 eggs; 1 nutmeg grated; 3 teaspoons l; 1 table- spoon butter; 2 eggs; 4 eggs; 1 grated nutmeg; 5 eggs; 1 box seeded raisins; 1 box currants

Why it works: Flour and raisin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,075 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓

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.

Flour + raisintop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,075 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together1,781 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).
Almond + flourtop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together8,673 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Milk + buttertop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together81,283 recipes

Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).
Milk + potatotop 9% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together3,611 recipes

Shared aroma: (e,z)-2,6-nonadienal (cucumber, melon).

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

What each ingredient does

Almonds: Ground almonds form the bulk of the cookie, giving it a dense, chewy structure.
Whites of egg: Whipped whites trap air and set during baking, giving the cookies their lift and light structure.
Pulverized sugar: Fine sugar sweetens the mixture and stabilises the whipped whites so they hold their shape.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites with sugar. The whites must be beaten until they hold firm peaks so the batter keeps its air. Under-beaten whites let the drops spread flat, while over-beaten whites turn dry and break down, making the cookies crack or collapse.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar, milk, butter, flour, potato, raisin):

Vanillafits better
Figfits better
Coconutfits better
Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, milk, butter, flour, potato, raisin. 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.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Grape	1/2 cup (76g)	62
Sugar	1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated	49
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Nutmeg	1 tsp ground (2.2g)	12
Almond	1 almond (1.2g)	7
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Frenxh Macaroons