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 ↓
Cream Meringues
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a very slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the meringue
Preheat your oven to 300°F (150°C).
Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Gently mix in the powdered sugar without deflating the egg whites.
Heap the meringue onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in large mounds or small ones.
Bake and dry
Place the baking sheet in the oven.
Leave the oven door slightly open to prevent overheating.
Change the position of the baking sheet occasionally for even drying.
Once the meringues are light brown, cool them slightly.
Carefully remove the meringues from the paper.
Hollow out the soft centers using a spoon.
Dust the insides with powdered sugar.
Place the meringues bottom side up on clean paper.
Put them back in the oven to dry out completely.
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 foam that traps air, giving the meringue its light, stiff structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the meringue and stabilizes the whipped foam while keeping it glossy.
The step that matters
Gently mix in the powdered sugar without deflating the egg whites. Overmixing or stirring roughly knocks out the air bubbles built up by whipping, so the meringue loses volume and may weep or spread in the oven.
“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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