Why it works: Coffee and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,344 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Coffee Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Make the coffee icing
Stir sugar into the coffee until thick enough to spread.
Smooth the icing over the cake and set it in a cool place for 1 to 2 hours.
Make the confectioners' icing
For confectioners' icing, break the egg white into a bowl.
Add 1 tablespoon of confectioners' sugar and beat together for 5 minutes until smooth and glossy.
Gradually add more confectioners' sugar, beating until about 1 cup has been used.
Finish the cake
Spread the icing on the cake while it is warm if it's the first coat.
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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Coffee + sugartop 17% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,344 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Coffee + eggtop 29% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,239 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
- Coffee
- Provides the liquid base and the main flavor of the icing.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the icing and thickens it enough to spread.
- Egg white
- Beaten with sugar, it builds a light, glossy structure in the icing.
- Confectioners' sugar
- Adds sweetness and body, stiffening the icing as more is beaten in.
The step that matters
Gradually add the confectioners' sugar while beating. Adding the sugar in small amounts lets it dissolve fully into the egg white. Adding it all at once can leave lumps and a grainy, unstable icing.
“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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