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 ↓
To Clarify Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Dissolve the sugar in warm water, using ½ pint for every pound.
Whip the egg whites and add them to the dissolved sugar.
Heat the mixture until it boils, then add a teacup of cold water.
Once it boils again, remove from heat and let it settle for 20 minutes.
Skim the scum from the top and pour off the syrup into a clean vessel, leaving sediment behind.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg whites
- Whipped whites rise to the surface as the mixture heats, carrying impurities that can then be skimmed off.
- Fine white loaf sugar
- Dissolves into the water to form the syrup itself, providing sweetness and body.
The step that matters
Skimming and pouring off the syrup. Egg white coagulates and carries impurities to the top as the mixture boils. Skimming the scum and pouring off the clear liquid while leaving sediment behind keeps the syrup clear rather than cloudy.
“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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