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 ↓
Meringues
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a quick oven”. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
Prepare thin boards with pieces of writing paper, 4 inches long and 3 inches wide, sprinkled with sugar.
Make the meringue
Whisk the egg whites until very stiff.
Quickly mix in the sugar with a wooden spoon.
Drop dessert spoonfuls of the mixture onto the prepared paper, shaping each into an egg shape.
Bake
Sift a little sugar over the meringues and bake at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes until crisp and lightly browned.
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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Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,635 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
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Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and brandy barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 11,939 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
- Egg whites
- Whisked to a stiff foam, they trap air and form the light, crisp structure of the meringue.
- Castor sugar
- Dissolves into the whisked whites, stabilising the foam and adding sweetness and crispness as it bakes.
The step that matters
Quickly mix in the sugar. Sugar added slowly or after overwhipping can make the foam collapse or turn grainy; folding it in promptly keeps the whites glossy and stable until they go into the oven.
“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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