Why it works: Butter and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 98,233 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓
Butter Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
Beat the butter until creamy.
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar, mixing well.
Flavor to taste.
Add more sugar if the icing is not stiff enough.
Use the icing
Keep the icing cool while using it for decoration.
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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Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together98,233 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Butter
- Provides fat that gives the icing its creamy, smooth body.
- Confectioners' sugar
- Sweetens the icing and, with the butter, sets its stiffness and body.
The step that matters
Keep the icing cool while decorating. Butter is a fat that softens at room temperature. If the icing gets warm it loses its shape and can run or slump, so it should stay cool while in use.
“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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