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 ↓
To Prepare Icing for Bride or Other Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Procure a clean china bowl with a round bottom.
Ensure the bowl, spatula, and all implements are free from grease.
Break the whites of three eggs into the bowl.
Use a wooden spatula made of a piece of wood about ten inches long and one and one-half inches wide at the thick end.
If icing sugar is not obtainable, procure lozenge sugar.
Make the icing
Add about half a pound of powdered sugar.
Beat the sugar and whites vigorously until the mixture begins to thicken.
Add as much cream of tartar as will lay on a ten-cent piece.
Add one drop of indigo blue (not more than two).
Add about a quarter pound more sugar, and continue beating.
Continue beating and adding sugar, a teaspoonful at a time, until the icing is as thick as desired.
Be careful not to get any yolk in, or the icing will not beat.
Remember to beat well; do not try to thicken by sugar alone, or it will run.
The icing is ready for use.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 2 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Wood | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the icing its light, airy structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the icing and, beaten with the whites, builds its body and thickness.
- Cream of tartar (in the method)
- Acidifies the whites, helping them foam and hold their shape more stably.
The step that matters
Keep yolk out of the whites. Egg yolk contains fat, which prevents egg white foam from forming and holding air, so the icing will not beat up properly.
“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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