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 ↓
Bolled Frosting
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a saucepan, combine the granulated sugar and boiling water.
Boil the mixture until it reaches the candy stage.
Make the frosting
In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Slowly pour the hot syrup into the beaten egg whites while continuing to beat until the frosting is white and thick.
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 + 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
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolves into the syrup and provides the sweetness and body of the frosting.
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that gives the frosting its light, airy structure.
- Boiling water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be cooked into a syrup.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot syrup into the egg whites. The syrup must be poured slowly while beating constantly. Hot syrup added too quickly can cook or deflate the whipped whites, while gradual addition lets the sugar blend in and the foam set into a thick, stable frosting.
“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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