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Honey Noyau, for Flavouring

A gin infused with honey, almonds, sugar, milk, and lemon.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Milk and honey are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,336 recipes. Both carry ethyl octanoate, which smells fruity. The science ↓

Honey Noyau, for Flavouring

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch and pound the sweet and bitter almonds.

  2. Mix the almonds with the sifted sugar.

Make the liquid

  1. Boil the milk with the honey, then allow it to cool.

  2. Pour the cooled milk and gin over the almond mixture.

  3. Add the lemon rind and strained lemon juice.

Steep and bottle

  1. Pour everything into a large bottle and shake frequently.

  2. Let it sit for twelve days before using.

  3. Filter through blotting paper and store in securely corked bottles.

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. Milk + honeytop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,336 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity).

  2. Almond + lemontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

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

  5. Almond + milktop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together5,800 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

Sweet almonds
Provide the main nutty flavour and body of the liqueur once pounded and steeped.
Bitter almonds
Add a stronger, sharper almond aroma that deepens the flavour.
Sifted sugar
Sweetens the liqueur and balances the alcohol and lemon acidity.
Gin
Acts as the solvent that extracts almond and lemon flavours and preserves the liqueur.
Milk
Adds creaminess and softens the harshness of the gin.
Lemon rind
Contributes aromatic citrus oils that brighten the flavour.

The step that matters

Shaking and steeping for twelve days. Frequent shaking keeps the pounded almonds and sugar in contact with the gin so flavour extracts evenly. Skipping it or stopping early can leave the liqueur weak and unevenly flavoured.

“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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