Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Nougat No. 4
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the almonds
Blanch, chop, and dry without coloring one cupful of almonds.
Make the nougat
Melt one cupful of powdered sugar with one teaspoonful of lemon-juice, stirring all the time.
When it is thoroughly melted and a delicate color, turn in the hot almonds.
Mix them together and turn into an oiled tin.
Press down the nougat evenly, leaving it an inch thick.
Cut it in inch squares before it becomes hard.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Almond | 1 almond (1.2g) | 7 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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.
-
Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
-
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
-
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Almonds
- Provide the nutty body and bulk that the set sugar holds together.
- Powdered sugar
- Melts to form the sweet, firm caramel base that binds the nougat when cooled.
- Lemon-juice
- Adds acidity that helps keep the melted sugar from crystallizing.
The step that matters
Stir the sugar until fully melted and a delicate color. Sugar that is not fully melted can stay grainy, and overheating past a delicate color turns it bitter. Stirring keeps it even so it sets smoothly around the almonds.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits better
- Figfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar. 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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