Name: Macaroon Tarts
Ingredients: ¼ pound almond paste; ½ cup sugar; 2 egg whites; 3-4 tablespoons water; 147 small short crust pastry shells; raspberry jam; powdered sugar

Why it works: Almond and raspberry match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 552 recipes. Both carry alpha-pinene, which smells pine, turpentine. The science ↓

Macaroon Tarts

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Make the filling

Grate the almond paste.
In a bowl, combine grated almond paste, sugar, egg whites, and water.

Assemble and bake

Fill each pastry shell with a small teaspoon of raspberry jam.
Spread a teaspoon of the almond mixture over the jam in each shell.
Dust with powdered sugar.
Bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) for 15 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.

Almond + raspberrytop 7% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together552 recipes

Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).
Almond + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together15,679 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + raspberrytop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together3,101 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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

Almond paste: Provides the rich, chewy macaroon-like filling that gives the tart its flavour and texture.
Egg whites: Bind the almond mixture and help it set and puff lightly as it bakes.
Sugar: Sweetens the filling and helps it brown lightly in the oven.
Raspberry jam: Adds fruity acidity and sweetness beneath the almond layer and moisture to the tart.