Name: Orange Frosting
Ingredients: 1 egg yolk; 1 pound confectioner's sugar; 1 tablespoon water; ½ orange (juice)

Why it works: Sugar and orange are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 20% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Orange Frosting

enough for two small cakes

Ingredients

1 egg yolk
1 pound confectioner's sugar
1 tablespoon water
½ orange (juice)

Directions

Combine the egg yolk, water, and orange juice in a bowl. Gradually stir in the confectioner's sugar until the mixture is spreadable.

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 + orangetop 20% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,212 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + orangetop 31% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,696 recipes

Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).

Sugar and orange barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 19,212 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

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

What each ingredient does

Confectioner's sugar: Provides sweetness and bulk, and thickens the liquid into a spreadable frosting.
Egg yolk: Adds richness and helps bind the frosting into a smooth, creamy texture.
Orange juice: Adds bright citrus flavour and acidity that balances the sugar.