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Dessert

Almond Macaroons

A sweet biscuit made from blanched almonds, rose water, egg whites, and powdered sugar, baked until firm.

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 ↓

Almond Macaroons

Oven, in the book's wordsA rather cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a rather cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the batter

  1. Pound the blanched almonds in a mortar with the rose-water until fine.

  2. Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.

  3. Gently stir the powdered sugar and pounded almonds into the egg whites.

Shape and bake

  1. Drop the mixture by the teaspoonful onto buttered pans or white paper.

  2. Dust lightly with powdered sugar.

  3. Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 20 minutes.

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. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  4. Rose + sugartop 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

Blanched almonds
Provide the main body and nutty flavor of the macaroons.
Egg whites
Whipped to a stiff foam, they give the macaroons their light structure and set in the oven.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and dissolves into the egg whites, helping the mixture hold its shape and brown lightly.
Rose-water
Adds a delicate floral aroma to the almond paste.

The step that matters

Gently stir the powdered sugar and pounded almonds into the egg whites. Overmixing deflates the whipped egg white foam, which removes the air that gives the macaroons their light, airy structure. Folding gently keeps the foam intact so the cookies rise and set softly rather than spreading flat and dense.

“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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