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 ↓
Fondant Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Beat the egg white slightly and mix in the powdered sugar.
Brush the mixture onto the top and sides of the cakes.
Let the glazed cakes stand overnight.
Coat the cakes
Melt the fondant over hot water and add color and flavor as desired.
Stir the fondant to prevent a crust from forming.
Use a three-tined fork to dip the cake three-fourths of the way into the fondant.
Invert the cake and slide it off the fork onto a board.
Decorate with frosting and your choice of nuts or candied fruits.
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).
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Egg + meattop 22% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together6,432 recipes
Shared aroma: 2,4-decadienal (seaweed).
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Sugar + meattop 34% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,866 recipes
Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg white
- Binds the powdered sugar into a thin glaze that adheres to the cake surface.
- Powdered sugar
- Sweetens the glaze and thickens it so it sets into a smooth base layer.
- Fondant
- Forms a smooth, sweet outer coating that sets firm as it cools.
The step that matters
Stir the fondant to prevent a crust from forming. Fondant left unstirred while warm can form a skin as its surface dries and cools. Stirring keeps it smooth and fluid, so the cake coats evenly without lumps or dull patches.
“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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