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 ↓
Sugar, Clarified, for Fresh-water Ices
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break the sugar into small pieces and place in a saucepan with cold water. Let the sugar dissolve.
Add the beaten egg white.
Clarify
Remove the scum as it rises. Keep boiling until the scum ceases to rise.
Once clear, strain through muslin.
Store
Store in a bottle and seal 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 + 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
- Refined sugar
- Forms the syrup that is clarified; it is the main substance being purified.
- Egg white
- Coagulates when heated, trapping impurities so they rise as scum that can be removed.
The step that matters
Removing the scum as it rises. Egg white coagulates as the syrup heats and traps impurities into a scum. Skimming it promptly and continuing to boil until no more scum forms keeps the syrup clear rather than cloudy.
“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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