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 ↓
Floeida Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
In an earthen baking dish, combine the egg whites and sugar without stirring.
Place the dish on hot coals and stir continuously until the mixture reaches a boiling heat, too hot to touch.
Remove from heat and beat the mixture in the same dish until nearly cold.
Add the tartaric acid and beat until thick and smooth.
Tips
For a smoother icing, use crushed sugar and slightly moisten it with boiling water before mixing.
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.
-
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 and cooked, they form the foamy structure that gives the icing its body.
- White sugar
- Dissolves into the egg whites and sets with them, adding sweetness and a glossy finish.
- Tartaric acid
- An acid that stabilises the egg white foam and helps keep the icing smooth and thick.
The step that matters
Beating the mixture until nearly cold. Beating while the mixture cools lets the egg white foam set into a stable, thick structure. Beating too early or stopping too soon can leave the icing loose or grainy.
“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.
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.