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Dessert

Chocolate Frosting

A simple chocolate frosting made from grated chocolate, powdered sugar, and beaten egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Chocolate and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 13% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,404 recipes. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat the egg whites lightly; they should not become white.

  2. Add the grated chocolate and stir to combine.

  3. Gradually pour in the powdered sugar while beating to mix well.

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. Chocolate + sugartop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,404 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

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

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

  3. Chocolate + eggtop 24% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together11,448 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptenal (green).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Provide structure and body, helping the frosting hold together and thicken as it is beaten.
Grated chocolate
Adds rich chocolate flavor and fat, giving the frosting its color and smooth texture.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the frosting and thickens it, adding body to the mixture.

The step that matters

Beat the egg whites lightly. Overbeating egg whites past a light, frothy state can make them dry and grainy, and the frosting will lose smoothness. Beat only until just combined, so the whites stay pliable and blend evenly with the chocolate and sugar.

“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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