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Dessert

Cocoa-nut Macaroons

A sweet treat made from egg whites, cocoa-nut or almond extract, crackers, and powdered sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓

Cocoa-nut Macaroons

Oven, in the book's wordsA very moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

  1. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).

  2. Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.

  3. Mix all the ingredients together.

Bake

  1. Drop the mixture onto a well-greased baking paper on a tin.

  2. Bake until firm and light brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

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

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

  2. Cocoa + sugartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together956 recipes

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

  3. Egg + cocoatop 29% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together582 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

Egg whites
Whipped to a stiff froth, they give the macaroons lift and an airy, light structure.
Desiccated cocoa-nut
Adds moisture and chewiness, along with the coconut flavour that defines the cookie.
Rolled and sifted crackers
Provide body and bulk that hold the mixture together as it bakes.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps the surface brown as it bakes.

The step that matters

Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth. Egg whites trap air when whipped, and that trapped air is what lifts the macaroons. Under-whipped whites leave the mixture dense, while over-whipped whites turn grainy and collapse in the oven.

Swap the cocoa

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

  1. Pecansfits better
  2. Almondfits better
  3. Chestnutfits better
  4. Cocoathe original

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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