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 ↓
Strawberry Velvet
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Combine the strawberries and sugar in a bowl.
Make and serve
Add the beaten egg whites and mix well.
Chill the mixture in the refrigerator before serving.
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
- Strawberries
- Provide flavour, colour and moisture to the mixture.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the mixture and helps draw moisture from the strawberries.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff foam, they add airy structure and lightness.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped to stiff peaks to trap air, which gives the dessert its light, velvety texture. Under-beaten whites stay runny and won't hold volume once folded in. Over-beaten whites turn dry and grainy and break down when mixed.
“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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