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Almond Icing for Bride Cakes

A sweet almond icing made with egg whites, sugar, blanched almonds, and rose water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Almond and rose are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 11% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,465 recipes. Both carry eucalyptol, which smells eucalyptus, herbal. The science ↓

Almond Icing for Bride Cakes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.

Make the icing

  1. In a large bowl, combine the egg whites, sugar, pounded almonds, and rose water.

  2. Whisk the mixture well for 1 to 2 hours until it is smooth and fluffy.

Ice and set

  1. Spread the icing over the cake evenly.

  2. Place the cake in a 350°F (175°C) oven to set the icing.

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.

  1. Almond + rosetop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together1,465 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  2. Sugar + almondtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,679 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  3. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,584 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Egg + almondtop 25% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,645 recipes

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

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

What each ingredient does

Egg whites
Whisked, they trap air and form the foam that gives the icing its light, fluffy body.
Double refined sugar
Dissolves into the egg whites and adds sweetness, helping the icing become smooth and set firm.
Blanched almonds, pounded
Provide body, nutty flavour and fat, thickening the icing as it sets.
Rose water
Adds a delicate floral aroma that flavours the icing.

The step that matters

Whisking the mixture. Whisking for a long time incorporates air into the egg whites and helps the sugar dissolve fully. Under-whisking leaves the icing dense and grainy, while the fluffy texture depends on this step.

“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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