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 ↓
Syrup
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the syrup
Combine powdered sugar and water in a closed vessel over moderate heat.
Stir frequently until the sugar is dissolved.
Set aside for 24 hours.
Remove any scum.
Pour off the syrup, leaving any residue behind.
Dissolve 2 lb sugar in 1 pint water over heat.
Strain while hot.
Clarify with egg white
Beat egg whites with 3,000 parts water.
Add two-thirds of the egg white mixture to 600 parts sugar in a copper vessel with 1,000 parts water.
Heat gently, stirring until dissolved, ensuring it doesn't boil.
When it froths, reduce heat.
Gradually add the reserved egg white mixture.
Remove scum as needed.
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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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
- Refined sugar
- Provides the sweetness and body of the syrup.
- Egg whites
- Coagulate when heated and trap impurities, clearing the syrup as scum rises.
The step that matters
Heating the egg white mixture gently without boiling. If the mixture boils too hard or too early, the egg white proteins set in lumps rather than rising as a clean scum layer, so impurities are not captured and the syrup stays cloudy. Gentle heat lets the proteins coagulate slowly and carry impurities to the surface where they can be removed.
“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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