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 ↓
Hard or Plain Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Beat the egg whites with a spoon or egg beater until frothy but not white.
Gradually add the powdered sugar, beating from the bottom to incorporate all the egg.
Continue beating until the icing can be cut clean and smooth with a knife.
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
- Form the liquid base and whip to create a light, stable foam that sets the icing.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the whites to provide sweetness and body, thickening the icing as it is beaten.
The step that matters
Beating in the powdered sugar. Adding sugar too quickly or beating too little can leave lumps or a runny icing. Gradual additions and continued beating let the sugar dissolve and the foam stiffen, so the icing holds a clean cut.
“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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