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Dessert

Ratafia Biscuits or Drops

A sweet biscuit made from ground almonds, powdered sugar, rose water, and folded egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Ratafia Biscuits or Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

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.

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds and soak them in cold water.

  2. Remove all spots from the almonds and dry them well.

  3. Pound the almonds as fine as possible.

Make the batter

  1. In a bowl, mix the pounded almonds with powdered sugar and rose water.

  2. Beat the egg whites until stiff and smooth.

  3. Gently fold the egg whites into the almond mixture.

Bake

  1. Drop small amounts onto sheets of paper.

  2. Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C).

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

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,584 recipes

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

  5. Almond + eggtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked 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

Jordan almonds
Provide the main nutty flavour and the bulk of the dry base of the drops.
Bitter almonds
Add a deeper, sharper almond aroma that sweet almonds alone would lack.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the mixture and dissolves easily into the almond paste for a smooth texture.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff foam, they give the drops lift and a light, airy structure as they set.

The step that matters

Fold the egg whites gently. Whipped egg white foam traps air that gives lift and a light texture. Vigorous stirring knocks that air out, leaving dense, flat drops.

“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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