Name: Cocoanut Frosting
Ingredients: 10 teaspoons powdered sugar; 1 egg white; desiccated coconut or fresh grated coconut

Why it works: Sugar and egg 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 ↓

Cocoanut Frosting

Ingredients

10 teaspoons powdered sugar
1 egg white
desiccated coconut or fresh grated coconut

Directions

Make the frosting

Make white frosting by mixing 10 teaspoons of powdered sugar with the white of 1 egg.
Add as much desiccated coconut or fresh grated coconut as desired.

Finish the cake

Spread the frosting on the cake and sprinkle more coconut on top.

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.

Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + coconuttop 22% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together5,742 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Egg + coconuttop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,090 recipes

Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

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

What each ingredient does

Powdered sugar: Sweetens the frosting and helps it hold a smooth, spreadable body.
Egg white: Whips and sets to give the frosting structure and a glossy, firm texture.
Coconut: Adds flavour, chewy texture and visible coconut on the surface.