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Dessert

Egg Marmalade

A sweet confection made from almonds, marmalade, citron, brandy, eggs, sugar, and rose water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,125 recipes. Both carry 2,4-decadienal, which smells seaweed. The science ↓

Egg Marmalade

Oven, in the book's wordsA very slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Blanch and pound the sweet almonds with a little rose water.

  2. Mix in the orange marmalade and citron until smooth.

Make the marmalade

  1. Add the brandy, beaten egg yolks, egg whites, and pounded sugar.

  2. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and stir until thick.

Set and serve

  1. Pour into a shape and let it cool.

  2. Serve turned out and garnished with flowers.

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.

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. Almond + orangetop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,125 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

  2. Orange + rosetop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together876 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Orange + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,706 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Brandy + rosetop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together560 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Thicken the mixture as they set with heat, giving a rich, smooth body.
Egg whites
Add lightness and help the mixture set firm when cooled.
Sweet almonds
Contribute body and a nutty flavour to the base.
Orange marmalade
Adds sweetness, fruity acidity and aroma.
Citron
Adds candied citrus flavour and chewy texture.
Brandy
Adds aroma and depth of flavour.

The step that matters

Stir until thick. Egg proteins thicken as they heat, but overheating can curdle them. Stir gently over moderate heat and stop as soon as the mixture coats a spoon so it stays smooth.

Swap the orange

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (almond, brandy, egg, sugar, rose):

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits about as well
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, brandy, egg, sugar, rose. 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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