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Dessert

Macaroons

A sweet baked treat made with crumbs, butter, molasses, milk, and spices, studded with currants and citron.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 11 ingredients
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Macaroons

Why it works: Vanilla and cinnamon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,287 recipes. Both carry 4-methoxybenzaldehyde, which smells sweet, anise. The science ↓

Macaroons

Ingredients

Directions

Make the batter

  1. Mix the crumbs, melted butter, molasses, milk or sour cream, and saleratus together.

  2. Add the eggs, currants, citron, lemon, vanilla, and cinnamon.

  3. Thicken the mixture slightly, but not too stiff.

Bake and finish

  1. Bake until done, then cover with rum icing.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Vanilla + cinnamontop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,287 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4-methoxybenzaldehyde (sweet, anise).

  2. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  3. Lemon + cinnamontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,950 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  4. Butter + milktop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together81,283 recipes

    Shared aroma: (z)-4-heptenal (biscuit, cream).

  5. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Saleratus
Reacts with the acidic milk or sour cream to release gas, helping the batter rise.
Eggs
Bind the batter and add structure as they set during baking.
Melted butter
Adds fat for richness and a tender crumb.
Molasses
Adds sweetness, moisture, and a deep colour as it browns.
Crumbs
Form the bulk of the batter and give it body.
Milk or sour cream
Supplies moisture and the acidity that reacts with the saleratus.

The step that matters

Thicken the mixture slightly, but not too stiff. The batter needs enough body to hold its shape and suspend the currants and citron, but overly stiff batter bakes dense and dry. Stopping at a slightly thick, still pourable consistency keeps the crumb light and moist.

Swap the currant

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, molasses, milk, egg, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon):

  1. Figfits better
  2. Blueberryfits better
  3. Blackberryfits better
  4. Currantthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, molasses, milk, egg, lemon, vanilla, cinnamon. 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.

More macaroons recipes

Almond 89Coconut 62Chocolate 43Oatmeal 33Hickory Nut 16Peanut 11 See all 48 →

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