Why it works: Egg and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 21% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 122,807 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Caramel Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the egg white base
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Gradually add the powdered sugar and continue beating until well combined.
Make the sugar syrup
In a separate pot, cook the granulated sugar, glucose, and enough water to dissolve the mixture.
Pour the cooked mixture onto a damp slab and let it cool.
Once cooled, cream the mixture, then reheat it over steam.
Combine and color
Add the reheated mixture to the egg white mixture and beat until well combined.
Color the icing as desired: white, pink, chocolate, or maple.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Albumen (egg whites)
- Whipped to a stiff foam that gives the icing its light, airy structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Adds sweetness and bulk, stiffening the whipped whites into a smooth icing.
- Granulated sugar
- Cooked into a syrup that provides sweetness and the caramel flavor base.
- Glucose
- Inhibits crystallization in the cooked sugar, keeping the icing smooth and glossy.
The step that matters
Cooking the sugar syrup. Sugar syrup can crystallize or scorch if overheated or stirred carelessly, which makes the icing grainy or bitter. Dissolving the sugar fully and using glucose helps keep the texture smooth.
“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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