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 ↓
Tutti Frutti Frosting
Ingredients
Directions
Make the sugar syrup
In a saucepan, combine water and sugar.
Boil the mixture until it becomes very thick and waxy.
Make the frosting
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gradually add the thick sugar mixture to the beaten egg whites, mixing well.
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 + 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
- Sugar
- Dissolves and cooks into a thick syrup that sets the frosting's sweet, glossy body.
- Egg whites
- Beaten into stiff peaks to create an airy foam that gives the frosting its light structure.
The step that matters
Adding the hot syrup to the egg whites. Pouring the syrup in slowly while beating keeps it from cooking the egg whites into lumps and lets the foam stay stable and 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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