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Ratafia Biscuits or Drops

Almond biscuits made with powdered sugar, rose water, and beaten egg whites.

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 ↓

Ratafia Biscuits or Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA slow oven

Ingredients

Directions

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

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds and soak them in cold water.

  2. Remove all spots and dry the almonds well.

  3. Pound the almonds as fine as possible and place them in a bowl.

Make the mixture

  1. Mix the powdered sugar and rose water with the almonds.

  2. Beat the egg whites until stiff and smooth, then gently fold them into the almond mixture.

Bake

  1. Drop small amounts of the mixture onto sheets of paper.

  2. Bake in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C) until set.

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. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  4. Sugar + rosetop 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

Almonds
Form the body of the biscuit and supply its rich, nutty flavour.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the paste and helps it hold a smooth, tender texture.
Egg whites
Whipped into foam, they lighten the mixture and set it as it bakes.
Rose water
Adds a floral aroma that scents the finished biscuit.

The step that matters

Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whipped egg whites trap air that lifts the mixture. Folding gently keeps that air in, while stirring vigorously would deflate the foam and leave the biscuits 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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