Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Frosting or Icing for Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the frosting
Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks.
Sift together the powdered sugar and cornstarch, then add to the beaten egg whites.
Mix in the pulverized gum arabic and lemon juice, beating well.
Apply the icing
Apply a light coat of icing to the cooled cake.
Use a knife dipped in cold water to spread the icing smoothly.
On the following day, apply another coat of icing, and repeat on the third day if desired.
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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they form the airy foam that gives the icing its structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the whipped whites to provide sweetness and body.
- Cornstarch
- Helps stabilise the icing so it holds its shape and stays smooth.
- Gum arabic
- Acts as a binder that helps the icing dry firm and resist cracking.
The step that matters
Use a knife dipped in cold water to spread the icing smoothly.. Cold water keeps the knife from dragging through the sticky, sugary icing, so the coat spreads evenly instead of tearing or clumping.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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