Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Glace Icing
Ingredients
Directions
In a jar, mix icing sugar with light liqueur and enough water to achieve a cream-like consistency.
Color the mixture lightly with cochineal.
In a bowl, combine egg whites with fine, white, dry sugar until a stiff paste forms.
Add acetic acid, cream of tartar, and starch powder or gum tragacanth to the paste for body and elasticity.
Mix with a wooden spatula until the icing reaches the proper consistency.
Check the icing. If perfect, the point left by the spatula should stand erect.
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Cream + eggtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Icing sugar
- Forms the sweet base that the liquid loosens into a spreadable icing.
- Egg whites
- Whip with sugar into a stiff paste that gives the icing structure and body.
- Starch powder or gum tragacanth
- Adds body and elasticity so the icing holds its shape.
- Cream of tartar
- Stabilizes the egg white paste, helping it stay firm and smooth.
The step that matters
Checking the consistency. Icing that is too thin will run off and too stiff will not spread. The spatula test shows whether the point holds its shape, so the cook should check before deciding the icing is ready.
“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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