Why it works: Egg and sugar 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 ↓
Cream Meringue No. 2
Ingredients
Directions
Make the meringue
Beat the egg whites until they begin to fly from the whip.
Add the powdered sugar and beat until stiff.
Boil the granulated sugar with water until it reaches 244°F (118°C).
Pour the boiling syrup into the egg whites in a gentle stream while continuing to beat.
Shape and bake
Immediately lay out large drops on a board covered with wet paper.
Bake at 200°F (93°C) until done.
Scoop out the inside with a teaspoon.
Return to the oven for a little longer until cold.
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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Egg + sugartop 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 into a foam that gives the meringue its airy structure.
- Granulated sugar
- Boiled into a syrup that cooks the whites and sweetens the meringue.
- Powdered sugar
- Added to the whites to help the foam become stiff and stable.
The step that matters
Pouring the syrup in a gentle stream while beating. The hot syrup cooks the egg white proteins as it mixes in, setting the foam. Pouring it quickly or without continued beating can deflate the foam and leave a dense, weak meringue.
“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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