Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓
Macaroon Basket
Ingredients
Directions
Make the candy
Dissolve gum arabic in boiling water thoroughly.
Stir in white sugar and boil gently until very thick.
Keep the mixture hot in a pan of boiling water.
Build the basket
Butter the bottom and sides of a round tin pail.
Dip the edges of each macaroon in the hot candy.
Lay the macaroons in close rows on the bottom until covered.
Let the macaroons dry.
Ensure they adhere firmly before adding the lower row of the sides.
Build up the wall one row at a time.
Let each row harden before adding another.
Once the basket is firm, lift it carefully from the mold.
Make a loop-handle at each end with four or five macaroons stuck together.
Serve
Set the basket on a flat dish and heap with whipped cream.
Sprinkle with comfits or decorate with bits of red jelly.
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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Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together41,516 recipes
Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).
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Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Macaroons
- Form the structure of the basket walls and base, set in place by the candy.
- White sugar
- Forms the thick candy that binds the macaroons together as it cools and hardens.
- Gum arabic
- Thickens the boiled syrup so it holds the macaroons firmly in place.
- Whipped cream
- Fills the finished basket, adding softness and a light, creamy contrast to the crisp shell.
The step that matters
Keep the candy hot and let each row harden. Hot candy stays fluid enough to grip the macaroons, while cooling sets it firm. Adding a new row too soon, before the previous one hardens, lets the wall slump or slide out of place.
“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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