Name: Instantaneous Frosting
Ingredients: 1 egg white; 1 ¼ cups powdered sugar; 3 drops rose water; 10 drops vanilla extract; juice of ½ lemon

Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Instantaneous Frosting

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no cooking times; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Combine the egg white and powdered sugar in a bowl and stir until smooth.
Add the rose water, vanilla extract, and lemon juice and mix well.
The frosting will become very white and harden in 5 to 6 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.

Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together35,032 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Rose + lemontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together1,174 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Rose + vanillatop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together456 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Vanilla + lemontop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together5,961 recipes

Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together53,532 recipes

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

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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 white: Whips and sets to give the frosting its body and firm texture.
Powdered sugar: Provides sweetness and bulk, helping the frosting thicken.
Lemon juice: Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps stabilize the egg white.