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York Drops

York Drops are almond-based sweet drops made with egg whites and sugar, baked until set.

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 ↓

York Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA warm oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a warm oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the paste

  1. Pound the blanched almonds until fine.

  2. Add the egg whites one at a time while continuing to pound.

  3. Gradually add the sugar while mixing.

Shape and bake

  1. Once well mixed, drop the mixture onto paper in pea-sized drops.

  2. Place the drops on iron or tin plates.

  3. Bake in a warm oven at 400°F (200°C).

Finish

  1. When cold, carefully remove the drops from the paper.

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).

  2. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Blanched almonds
Provide the main body and nutty flavor of the drops.
Egg whites
Bind the almonds and add structure and lightness to the mixture.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and helps the drops set and crisp as they bake.

The step that matters

Adding the sugar gradually while mixing. Sugar added slowly dissolves into the egg white and almond mixture, which keeps it smooth and evenly bound. Adding it all at once can leave the mixture grainy and loose, so the drops may spread or hold their shape poorly.

Swap the almond

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

  1. Pecansfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Milletfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, 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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