Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓
Boiled Frosting
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil the sugar and water without stirring until the syrup can form a thread.
Make the frosting
While the syrup is boiling, beat the egg white until stiff.
Add the cream of tartar to the egg white.
Pour the boiling syrup in a fine stream into the egg white while beating well.
Continue beating until the mixture thickens and is perfectly smooth.
Finish
Pour the frosting over the cake before it hardens; it sets quickly.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 + creamtop 9% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together43,450 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together42,166 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolves into the syrup that cooks to a thread and gives the frosting its sweetness.
- Egg white
- Whipped to a foam that gives the frosting its light, airy structure.
- Cream of tartar
- Acidifies the egg white, helping it whip to a stable, more tender foam.
The step that matters
Pouring the boiling syrup into the egg white. Pour the syrup in a fine stream while beating constantly. Pouring too fast or stopping the beater can cook the egg white unevenly or deflate the foam, leaving a grainy or runny frosting.
“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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