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Orgeat or Almond Syrup

A sweet almond-based syrup made by blending blanched almonds, sugar, water, and orange‑flower water, then mixing with a boiled sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 10 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 ↓

Orgeat or Almond Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the almond milk

  1. Blanch the sweet and bitter almonds.

  2. Pound the blanched almonds in a mortar with 2 tablespoons of cold water.

  3. Gradually add 2-3 ounces of loaf sugar and 1 pint of cold water. Mix the mixture well.

  4. Strain the mixture through a calico bag. Press to extract all almond milk.

  5. Return the almond paste to the mortar. Add 3 ounces of sugar and 1 pint of water. Pound the mixture.

  6. Strain again.

  7. Mix the almond milk with ¼ pint of orange‑flower water.

Make the syrup and finish

  1. Boil 4 pounds of sugar in 3 quarts of water to make a syrup.

  2. Skim the syrup 2-3 times until clear.

  3. Combine the almond emulsion with the syrup. Heat until boiling.

  4. Pour the mixture out to cool. Bottle for use.

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. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

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

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

  4. Sugar + orangetop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together19,212 recipes

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

  5. Almond + syruptop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together746 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 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 almond milk base that gives the syrup its body and flavor.
Bitter almonds
Add a concentrated almond aroma that gives the syrup its characteristic flavor.
Sugar
Sweetens the almond milk and syrup and helps preserve the finished syrup.
Orange-flower water
Adds a floral aroma that complements the almond flavor.

The step that matters

Skim the syrup until clear. Skimming removes impurities that rise to the surface as the sugar syrup boils, so the finished syrup stays clear rather than cloudy.

Swap the orange

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Raisinfits better
  3. Figfits better
  4. Orangethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against almond, sugar, syrup. 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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