Why it works: Sugar and almond are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓
Macaroons
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a cool oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the meringue
Whisk the eggs until very dry.
Gradually add 1 teaspoon of sugar at a time, beating hard until all sugar is incorporated.
Prepare the almonds
Blanch and bruise the almonds in a mortar, ensuring they are not pounded to a paste.
Shape and bake
Stir in the almonds.
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto sheets of white paper on tins.
Bake in a cool oven (300°F / 150°C) until they have a slight brown tinge.
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.
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Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together15,679 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + almondtop 25% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked 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
- Eggs
- Whisked into a dry foam that gives the macaroons their light, airy structure.
- Powdered white sugar
- Beaten into the eggs to stabilise the foam and add sweetness.
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the bulk of the mixture and its nutty flavour and texture.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a stronger, aromatic almond flavour to the macaroons.
The step that matters
Beating in the sugar. Sugar must be added gradually while beating so the egg foam stays stable and holds its structure. Adding it all at once can collapse the foam and make the macaroons flat and dense.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Pecansfits about as well
- Almondthe original
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Milletfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. 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.
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