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Dessert

Almond Macaroons

Almond macaroons are made from blanched almonds, powdered sugar, rose-water, and beaten egg whites, baked until firm.

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 slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the almonds

  1. Prepare the almonds a day in advance.

  2. Blanch the almonds.

  3. Pound the blanched almonds finely in a mortar.

Make the batter

  1. Add a little rose-water gradually to the almond paste.

  2. Stir the powdered sugar into the almond paste.

  3. Beat the egg whites until stiff.

  4. Mix the beaten egg whites into the almond paste thoroughly.

Shape and bake

  1. Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto buttered parchment paper, leaving space between each.

  2. Wet your hands and smooth the tops of the macaroons.

  3. Brush the tops with egg white.

  4. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) for 30 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. 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. Sugar + eggtop 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

Blanched almonds
Provide the main body and nutty flavour of the macaroons once ground into a paste.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps bind the almond paste into a stable dough.
Egg whites
Whipped to add air and structure, helping the macaroons rise and set in the oven.

The step that matters

Mix the beaten egg whites into the almond paste thoroughly. Whipped egg whites hold the air that lightens the macaroons. Folding them in gently yet fully keeps the batter evenly mixed, so the macaroons bake to an even texture without lumps of unmixed white or flattened air.

“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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