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Dessert

Almond Macaroons

A sweet treat made from blanched almonds, rose water, egg whites, and powdered sugar, baked into small balls.

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 cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the batter

  1. Blanch the almonds and pound them smooth in a mortar, adding rose water as needed.

  2. Beat one egg white and mix it with the pounded almonds.

  3. Beat two more egg whites until stiff and mix with ½ pound of powdered sugar.

  4. Combine the mixture with the almond mixture until smooth.

  5. Stir in another ¼ pound of powdered sugar until the batter is creamy.

Shape and bake

  1. Form small balls of the batter and place them on slightly wet paper.

  2. Bake the macaroons in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C).

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. Rose + sugartop 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 to stiffness, they lighten the batter and help the macaroons hold their shape.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the batter and helps it set into a smooth, creamy texture.

The step that matters

Beating the egg whites until stiff. Stiffly beaten egg whites trap air that lightens the batter. If they are underbeaten, the macaroons may spread and turn 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.

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