Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and 15,678 recipes mention both. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
The recipe
Ingredients
Contains: egg, wheat, tree nuts (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)
Also mentioned in the method: pastry
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.
Make the batter
Finely pound the Jordan almonds with 4 egg whites.
Add 2 ½ pounds of sifted loaf sugar and mix well in a mortar.
Gradually add 10 more egg whites, mixing thoroughly.
Shape and bake
Transfer the mixture to a pastry bag and drop walnut-sized pieces onto paper.
Chop 3 blanched almonds and place a bit on each piece.
Bake on flat tins in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C).
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 aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.
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Almond + sugartop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together15,678 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + sugartop 10% of all pairsAroma overlapstrongMentioned together122,252 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Almond + eggtop 15% of all pairsAroma overlapmoderateMentioned together12,531 recipes
Shared aroma: nonanal (fat, citrus).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Jordan almonds
- Provide the main almond flavor and the body of the cookie paste.
- Egg whites
- Bind the paste and give the cookies their light, set structure as they bake.
- Loaf sugar
- Sweetens the paste and helps it firm up and brown in the oven.
The step that matters
Gradually adding the 10 additional egg whites. Adding egg whites too fast can loosen the paste so the cookies spread instead of holding their shape. Mixing thoroughly after each addition keeps the batter stiff enough to pipe.
Flavor stand-ins for the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Pecansabout as good a flavor fit
- Almondthe original
- Chestnutabout as good a flavor fit
- Milletabout as good a flavor fit
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).
“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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