Why it works: Almond and sugar 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 slack oven”. The 300°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the paste
Finely grind the sweet and bitter almonds with the 2 egg whites.
Make the meringue
Beat the 5 egg whites to a strong froth.
Gradually add the fine loaf sugar to the frothy egg whites.
Shape and bake
Drop small amounts of the mixture, the size of a nutmeg, onto cake paper.
Bake in a slow oven (300°F / 150°C) until set.
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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Almond + sugartop 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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Almond + eggtop 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
- Sweet almonds
- Provide the main body and nutty flavour of the cookie paste.
- Bitter almonds
- Add a deeper, more aromatic almond flavour to the paste.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a froth to give the macaroons lift and an airy structure.
- Fine loaf sugar
- Stabilises the whipped whites and adds sweetness and a set, chewy texture.
The step that matters
Adding the sugar to the frothy whites. Sugar must be added gradually to a strong froth so it dissolves and stabilises the foam. Dumping it in at once can collapse the whites and leave 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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