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Dessert

Frosting for Both

A gelatin-based frosting made with water, cream of tartar, gelatin, and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Cream and gelatin match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,628 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Frosting for Both

Ingredients

Directions

  1. In a large pot, combine 2 quarts of water and 2 ounces of cream of tartar.

  2. Sprinkle in 3 ounces of gelatin and stir until dissolved.

  3. Add sugar to taste and beat the mixture well until smooth.

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.

  1. Cream + gelatintop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,628 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Gelatin + sugartop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,778 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Cream + sugartop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Gelatin
Sets the liquid into a firm, elastic frosting structure as it cools.
Cream of tartar
Adds a mild acidity that can help keep the frosting stable and smooth.

The step that matters

Stirring the gelatin until fully dissolved. Undissolved gelatin granules stay hard and do not set evenly, leaving lumps or grainy spots in the frosting. Gelatin needs to be fully dissolved in the liquid before it cools so that it forms a uniform gel.

“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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