Why it works: Egg and sugar 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 ↓
Meringues or Kisses
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a warm oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the meringue
Beat the egg whites until stiff and flaky.
Gradually beat in the powdered sugar until thick.
Drop tablespoonfuls onto buttered paper on a board.
For kisses, drop from a teaspoon in any shape.
Bake and fill
Bake in a warm oven at 300°F (150°C) for 30 minutes or until hard and hollow to the touch.
When cool, remove the soft part and fill with ice cream, sherbet, or whipped cream.
Put two meringues together.
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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Egg + sugartop 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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a foam that holds air, giving the meringue its light, crisp structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Stabilizes the whipped foam and sweetens the meringue while helping it bake dry and crisp.
The step that matters
Baking until hard and hollow. Underbaked meringue stays soft and sticky because its sugar and egg proteins have not dried out. Baking low and slow dries the shell until it is firm, which lets it hold its hollow shape and stay crisp when filled.
“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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