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 ↓
Prune Meringue
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the prunes
Boil the prunes in clear water until soft, then remove them.
While warm, pour enough Madeira wine over the prunes to create a little syrup, sweetening the wine slightly.
Make the icing and bake
Froth the egg whites and mix in enough sugar to make icing.
Place the prunes in a baking dish, smooth the icing over them, and bake in a moderate oven at 350°F (175°C) until slightly browned.
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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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Madeira wine + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together343 recipes
Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).
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Madeira wine + eggtop 38% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together445 recipes
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Prunes
- Soften when boiled and provide the fruit base that the icing covers.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a foam that sets with heat to form the light meringue topping.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the icing and helps stabilise the whipped egg white foam.
- Madeira wine
- Adds sweetness and flavour to the prunes as a light syrup.
The step that matters
Frothing the egg whites. Egg whites need to be whipped to a stable foam before the sugar is added. Under-whipped or greasy whites will not hold their structure, and the meringue topping may collapse or fail to brown well in the oven.
“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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