Why it works: Sugar and egg 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 ↓
Boiled Frosting
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Moisten the sugar with enough water to dissolve it.
Boil the sugar until it threads from the spoon, stirring often.
Whip and finish
Beat the egg whites in a deep dish until stiff.
Quickly pour the boiling sugar over the egg whites and beat until the frosting reaches a spreadable consistency, then flavor as desired.
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.
-
Sugar + eggtop 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
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolves into a boiled syrup that sets firm and sweet as the frosting cools.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a foam that gives the frosting its light, airy structure.
The step that matters
Pouring the boiling sugar into the egg whites. The hot syrup partly cooks the egg white proteins and helps them set into a stable foam. Pouring it quickly and steadily while beating keeps it from cooling into lumps or deflating the whites.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.