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Powder, Magnesian Orgeat

A powdered almond-based sweetener containing bitter almond oil, citric acid, magnesium carbonate, sugar, and vanilla flavoring.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and vanilla match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 4% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,961 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Powder, Magnesian Orgeat

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Mix the oil of bitter almonds, citric acid, magnesium carbonate, and powdered sugar in a bottle, then add the vanilla flavoring and mix well.

  2. Sieve the mixture to remove any lumps and preserve it.

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 + vanillatop 4% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together3,961 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

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

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

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Oil of bitter almonds
Provides the main almond aroma that flavours the powder.
Citric acid
Adds sharp acidity that balances the sweetness of the sugar.
Magnesium carbonate
Acts as a light powdery bulking agent that keeps the mixture dry and loose.
White sugar
Supplies sweetness and bulk, balancing the sour citric acid.

The step that matters

Sieve the mixture. Lumps in a powder mix made from fine solids and oils can hide uneven flavour and clump later. Sieving breaks up clumps and evens out the blend so each spoonful tastes the same.

Swap the almond

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

  1. Chestnutfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Hazelnutfits about as well
  4. Macadamia nutfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, vanilla. 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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