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Dessert

Soft Frosting

A sweet frosting made from boiled sugar syrup, beaten egg whites, almonds, raisins, and citron, spread on sponge cake.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and raisin are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 2% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,781 recipes. Both carry 2-nonanone, which smells fruity, floral. The science ↓

Soft Frosting

Ingredients

Directions

Make the frosting

  1. Boil water and sugar until very thick and waxy.

  2. Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.

  3. Pour the syrup over the egg whites while beating until cool.

Finish and spread

  1. Add the chopped almonds, raisins, and citron.

  2. Spread on sponge cake.

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.

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.

  1. Almond + raisintop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

  2. Sugar + raisintop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,481 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  4. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

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

  5. Egg + raisintop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together9,556 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Sugar
Boiled into a thick syrup that sets the frosting soft and glossy, and adds sweetness.
Egg whites
Whipped into a foam that gives the frosting its light, airy structure.
Almonds
Add crunch and a nutty flavour to the soft frosting.
Raisins
Add chewy texture and concentrated sweetness.

The step that matters

Pouring the syrup into the egg whites. The syrup must be very hot and thick, and it should be poured in a thin stream while beating. This partly cooks and stabilises the foam, while slow pouring keeps air bubbles from collapsing and stops lumps of cooked egg forming.

“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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