Why it works: Almond and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 10% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,655 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓
Modern Cookery
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a gentle oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C).
Mix the finely pounded almonds with the sugar.
Grate the rind of the citron, lemon, or orange and mix it with part of the sugar, then dry and powder it.
Make and bake
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently fold the almond mixture and flavored sugar into the egg whites.
Spoon the mixture onto a baking sheet.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes 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.
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 + lemontop 10% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together5,655 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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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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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Almonds
- Provide the bulk and nutty flavor, forming the body of the macaroon.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into stiff peaks to lighten the mixture and give it structure as it sets.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the cookies and helps stabilize the whipped egg whites.
- Citron, lemon, or orange rind
- Adds aromatic citrus flavor to the sugar and the finished macaroons.
The step that matters
Folding the almond mixture into the egg whites. Folding gently keeps the air whipped into the egg whites. Overmixing deflates the foam, so the macaroons spread and bake up denser.
Swap the almond
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, lemon):
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Milletfits about as well
- Almondthe original
- Chickpeafits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, lemon. 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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