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Dessert

Soda Cream

A chilled dessert made from sugar, tartaric acid, hot water, egg whites, syrup, and bicarbonate of soda.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Sugar and syrup match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,842 recipes. Both carry ethanol, which smells alcoholic, ethereal. The science ↓

Soda Cream

Ingredients

Directions

Make the syrup

  1. Dissolve the sugar and tartaric acid in hot water and let it cool.

  2. Add the beaten egg whites and stir well.

  3. Bottle the syrup for use.

Serve

  1. In a glass of ice water, mix 2 large tablespoons of the syrup with 1/4 teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

  1. Sugar + syruptop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,842 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Egg + syruptop 32% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,995 recipes

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Granulated sugar
Provides sweetness and the body of the syrup.
Tartaric acid
Adds acidity and sharpness that balances the sweetness.
Egg whites
Whipped proteins that add foam and a light, frothy texture.
Bicarbonate of soda
Reacts with the acid to release carbon dioxide, producing fizz.

The step that matters

Mixing the syrup with bicarbonate of soda. Bicarbonate of soda must be added to the cold syrup in ice water so the acid and base react and release carbon dioxide as the drink is served, giving fizz. Adding it too early, while hot, lets the gas escape before serving.

“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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