Why it works: Sugar and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 25% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,584 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Rose Drops
Ingredients
Directions
Place a pan on the stove over low heat.
Stir the sugar with a spatula until it dissolves and makes a slight noise.
Remove from heat just before boiling.
Stir until it thickens enough to hold a round shape when dropped.
If too thin, add a little coarse powdered sugar to thicken.
Drop the mixture onto a smooth tin or copper plate at regular intervals.
Use a straight wire to separate the drops from the pan.
After 1.5 to 2 hours, remove the drops with a thin knife.
If using paper, dampen the back with a sponge to remove the drops.
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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Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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