Why it works: Egg and butter are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓
On Gum Paste
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Whisk the egg white until smooth and binding. If too dry, add another egg white.
Cut the paste into pieces the size and shape of your dish.
Roll out the paste to ⅙ or ¼ inch thick for the base.
Roll out some paste into strips for support.
Place the paste on a buttered plate and press gently to remove air.
Bake in a 350°F (175°C) oven.
When half done, cut the paste into desired shapes like pyramids or cottages.
Fit the shapes together and return to the oven to finish baking.
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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Egg + buttertop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together118,967 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
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