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Almond Biacasoons

A sweet almond confection made from blanched almonds, sugar, and egg whites, baked until pale brown.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,679 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

Almond Biacasoons

Oven, in the book's wordsA very cool oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a very cool oven”. The 350°F in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the almonds

  1. Blanch the almonds, dry them, and place them in a cool oven to dry completely.

  2. Pound the almonds into a very smooth paste with a little egg white.

Make the meringue

  1. Whisk the egg whites to a firm froth and mix in the sugar gradually.

Combine and bake

  1. Combine the almond paste with the egg mixture and whisk until well combined.

  2. Drop the mixture onto wafer paper and bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until pale brown.

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

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

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

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

  3. 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
Provide the main nutty flavour and the bulk of the paste that gives the biscuits body.
Fine sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps stabilise the whipped egg whites.
Egg whites
Whipped to a foam, they lighten the mixture and help it set and hold its shape.

The step that matters

Whisking the egg whites to a firm froth. Egg whites must be whipped to a stable foam before the sugar is added gradually. Under-whipped or greasy whites will not hold air, so the mixture stays dense and spreads flat in the oven.

Swap the almond

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

  1. Pecansfits about as well
  2. Almondthe original
  3. Chestnutfits about as well
  4. Milletfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. 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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