Why it works: Sugar and egg 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 ↓
Water Ices
Ingredients
Directions
In a large pot, combine 6 pounds of sugar and 3 quarts of water.
Beat 1/4 of an egg white until frothy and add it to the pot.
Boil the mixture for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
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 + eggtop 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
- Sugar
- Sweetens the syrup and lowers its freezing point, keeping the ice tender rather than rock-hard.
- Egg white
- Foams and coagulates as it heats, gathering impurities that can be skimmed for a clearer ice.
The step that matters
Beating the egg white until frothy before adding it. Egg white must be well foamed so it spreads through the hot syrup and coagulates evenly. As it cooks, it gathers impurities that rise and can be skimmed off, which keeps the finished ice clear and clean-tasting.
“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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