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Dessert

French Nougat

A nougat made with blanched almonds, sugar, honey, orange flower water, and egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

French Nougat

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Boil the sugar until it reaches a syrup consistency.

  2. Pour in the honey and orange flower water, stirring well.

Combine and test

  1. Gradually add this mixture to the whipped egg whites in a large bowl, stirring quickly until it forms a paste.

  2. Test the consistency by placing a spoonful in cold water; it should snap and break.

  3. Stir in the almonds until well combined.

Set and cut

  1. Spread the mixture on a sheet of wafer paper, then cover with another sheet and press down with a baking plate.

  2. Allow to cool, then cut into 2‑inch square slabs and store until cold.

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

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

  2. Honey + orangetop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,068 recipes

    Shared aroma: pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Almond + honeytop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,069 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  5. Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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

White sugar
Forms the syrup that gives the nougat its sweetness and firm, chewy body when cooled.
Honey
Adds sweetness and moisture and helps keep the nougat soft rather than grainy.
Whites of 3 eggs
Whipped to a foam, they trap air and give the nougat its light, airy structure.
Blanched almonds
Provide bulk and a crunchy texture throughout the set nougat.

The step that matters

Test the consistency in cold water. The mixture must reach the right firmness to set. Dropped into cold water, a properly cooked nougat snaps and breaks; if it is too soft, it will not hold its shape once cooled.

Swap the orange

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, honey, 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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