Why it works: Cream and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Black Walnut Kisses
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a hot oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Make the batter
Add a few grains of salt to the egg whites and beat until they are half stiff.
Add a pinch of cream of tartar and continue to beat until very stiff.
Mix the sugar and flour together, then fold into the egg whites.
Gently fold in the chopped walnut meats.
Bake and serve
Drop spoonfuls of the mixture onto slightly greased baking sheets.
Bake in the hot oven, then reduce the heat and allow the kisses to bake until well done.
Remove the kisses from the pan with a spatula while they are still warm.
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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Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Flour + walnuttop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,873 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
-
Walnut + meattop 13% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together1,035 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together92,116 recipes
Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
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Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together106,462 recipes
Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped into foam that gives the kisses their airy, light structure.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes the whipped egg whites so the foam holds its volume longer.
- Light brown sugar
- Sweetens the kisses and adds moisture and a caramel-like flavor.
- Flour
- Lightly sets the structure so the folded mixture holds its shape while baking.
- Chopped black walnut meats
- Adds texture and a nutty flavor throughout the kisses.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites to very stiff. Whites must be beaten until they hold firm peaks, because the foam supplies nearly all the lift. Under-beaten whites deflate in the oven, and over-folding after this point knocks out the air.
Swap the walnut
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, cream, sugar, flour, meat):
- Almondfits better
- Chestnutfits about as well
- Pistachiofits about as well
- Walnutthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, cream, sugar, flour, meat. 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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