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Dessert

Snow Balls

A sweet, spiced butter cake with almonds, citron, and wine, baked into small balls.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Snow Balls

Why it works: Mace and nutmeg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,557 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Snow Balls

Oven, in the book's wordsA quick oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare

  1. Blanch and finely beat the almonds with rose water.

  2. Separate the egg whites from the yolks.

  3. Mix the yolks with the sugar.

  4. Beat the egg whites to a light froth.

  5. Add the froth to the yolk mixture.

Make the batter

  1. Cream the butter until light.

  2. Mix the butter into the mixture gradually.

  3. Beat the mixture until very light.

  4. Add the flour.

  5. Beat until smooth.

  6. Stir in the mace and nutmeg.

  7. Add the wine and brandy.

  8. Add the citron and almonds.

  9. Stir well.

Bake

  1. Butter the cups.

  2. Fill the cups nearly full.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Mace + nutmegtop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together6,557 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Flour + nutmegtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together18,623 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  3. Brandy + winetop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,427 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  4. Butter + flourtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together124,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).

  5. Butter + winetop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together8,645 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

Butter and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 124,287 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

Eggs
Whites beaten to a froth add lightness and rise to the batter.
Butter
Creamed with the mixture to add richness, tenderness and a fine texture.
Flour
Provides the structure that holds the batter together as it bakes.
Sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps the yolks cream into a light base.
Almonds
Add body, rich flavour and a tender crumb to the batter.
Citron
Adds candied citrus flavour and moisture throughout the batter.

The step that matters

Beat the mixture until very light. Air trapped by beating the eggs, sugar and butter is what lifts the batter while it bakes. Under-beating leaves a dense result, and folding in the flour after the air is well incorporated keeps it from deflating.

Swap the mace

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, flour, sugar, egg, nutmeg, brandy, wine):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Cardamomfits better
  3. Clovefits better
  4. Macethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, flour, sugar, egg, nutmeg, brandy, wine. 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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