Four ounces of almonds to a pint of water — “either bitter or sweet,” says Oscar, as though it made no difference.
When almonds, either bitter or sweet, are pounded together, and water added the liquor resulting is of a milky appearance, and is commonly known as "almond milk." Mix four ounces of almonds to every pint of water, straining over half a pound of fine sugar, boil up once, and put in bottles for future use. This preparation will keep good for a week.
The Cook Book by Oscar of the Waldorf, 1896. Public domain; transcription unaltered.
The word “either” is the whole problem. Bitter almonds release hydrogen cyanide when crushed and wetted, which is precisely what pounding with water does, and four ounces to a pint is a great many almonds.
The single brief boil cannot be relied on to drive the hydrocyanic acid off. Commercial bitter-almond oil is made safe by an industrial process, not by one trip to the boil in a saucepan.
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