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 ↓
Jellied Trifle
Ingredients
Directions
Whip the egg whites until stiff and very cold.
Gradually add the powdered sugar while continuing to beat.
Fold in the jelly gently until well combined.
Serve in glasses.
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 trifle its light, airy structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the whipped whites, sweetening them and helping stabilise the foam.
- Jelly
- Folded in to add flavour and sweetness while keeping the whipped volume.
The step that matters
Whip the egg whites until stiff and very cold. Egg whites hold air only when whipped to stiff peaks, and cold whites whip to greater volume. Under-whipped whites will deflate when the jelly is folded in, leaving a dense, flat trifle.
“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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