Why it works: Almond and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 8,673 recipes. Both carry isobutyraldehyde, which smells malty, green. The science ↓
Macaroons
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the mixture
Blanch and dry the almonds, then pound them in a mortar.
Mix in the sugar and egg whites, beating vigorously for 10 minutes.
Add the rice flour and salt, and mix well.
Fill and bake
Roll out the puff pastry to about ½ inch thick and line eight patty pans with it.
Fill each lined pan with the mixture and brush the tops with water.
Bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) for 10 minutes until lightly browned.
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 + flourtop 5% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together8,673 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Almond + ricetop 6% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together1,456 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
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Rice + flourtop 16% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,611 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
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 macaroon filling.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps the mixture hold together and brown in the oven.
- Egg whites
- Bind the mixture and give it lift and a lighter, airy structure.
- Rice flour
- Adds a little starch to help the filling set and hold its shape.
- Puff paste
- Forms the pastry case that holds each filled macaroon while baking.
The step that matters
Beating the almond, sugar and egg white mixture. Vigorous beating for the full 10 minutes incorporates air into the egg whites, which gives the filling lift and a light texture once baked.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg, rice, flour):
- Almondthe original
- Milletfits about as well
- Chestnutfits less well
- Cashew nutfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg, rice, flour. 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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