Name: Sugar Drops
Ingredients: 4 eggs; 2 teaspoons water; 1 pound finely sifted sugar; 4 ounces finely sifted flour; additional sugar for dusting

Why it works: Sugar and flour are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 92,116 recipes. Both carry phenylacetaldehyde, which smells hawthorne, honey. The science ↓

Sugar Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA moderate oven

Ingredients

Directions

The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare the batter

Separate the whites and yolks of the eggs.
Beat the yolks with 2 teaspoons of water.
Fold the yolk mixture into the frothed egg whites.
Gradually add 1 pound of sugar and 4 ounces of flour, beating constantly.

Shape and bake

Drop spoonfuls onto white paper on baking sheets.
Dust with sugar to prevent spreading.
Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 10 minutes.

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.

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 + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together92,116 recipes

Shared aroma: phenylacetaldehyde (hawthorne, honey).
Egg + flourtop 15% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together106,462 recipes

Shared aroma: isobutyraldehyde (malty, green).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

Egg and flour barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 106,462 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs: Whites trap air for lightness, while yolks add richness and help bind the batter.
Sugar: Sweetens the drops and adds structure as it dissolves into the egg foam.
Flour: Provides light structure that holds the drops together as they bake.