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Dessert

Almond Macaroons

Almond macaroons are made from blanched almonds, powdered sugar, egg whites, and rose water or bitter almond essence.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Macaroons

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 the almonds in boiling water, then remove the skins and dry them on a clean towel.

  2. Grate or pound the almonds until fine.

  3. Beat the egg whites to a very stiff froth.

  4. Gradually stir in the powdered sugar, then add the pounded almonds and rose water or essence.

  5. Line a baking pan with buttered or waxed paper.

Shape and bake

  1. Drop half a teaspoon of the mixture onto the paper, leaving space between each.

  2. Sift powdered sugar over the macaroons.

  3. Bake in a 400°F (200°C) oven until they are a delicate brown.

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 + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

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

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

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

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

  4. Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,584 recipes

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

  5. 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

Almonds
Provide the main body and nutty flavor of the macaroons.
Egg whites
Whipped into a stiff foam that gives the macaroons their light, airy structure.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps it hold its shape while baking.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites to a very stiff froth. Whipped egg whites trap air that leavens the batter. If they are under-whipped or deflated when the almonds and sugar are folded in, the macaroons will spread flat and come out dense.

“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.

More almond macaroons recipes

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