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 ↓
Confectioners' Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
Beat the egg whites until frothy.
Gradually add the sugar while continuing to beat.
Place the mixture in a small can over a boiling tea kettle.
Cook for 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
Finish
Spread the icing on the cake quickly, as it hardens immediately.
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, they trap air and form the light, fluffy structure of the icing.
- White sugar
- Dissolves into the foamed whites, sweetening the icing and helping it set glossy as it cools.
The step that matters
Cooking the mixture over the kettle while stirring constantly. Gentle heat from the steam cooks the egg white proteins so the icing thickens and stays smooth. Stirring keeps the mixture from sitting on one spot and scrambling or cooking unevenly.
“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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