Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Ick Cream Icing for White Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
In a saucepan, combine powdered sugar and cold water.
Beat the egg whites lightly and add them to the sugar mixture.
Cook and thicken
Place the bowl in a vessel of boiling water and heat until the mixture becomes thin and clear.
Continue heating until it thickens, then remove from heat.
Stir the icing as it cools until it is thick enough to spread with a knife.
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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together27,347 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Powdered sugar
- Provides sweetness and most of the body, thickening into a spreadable icing as it cools.
- Egg whites
- Their proteins set with gentle heat, giving the icing structure and a glossy, smooth texture.
- Citric acid
- Adds a slight tartness that balances the sweetness and helps keep the egg whites stable.
- Vanilla extract
- Adds aroma and a warm, familiar flavor.
The step that matters
Heating the egg white and sugar mixture. Gentle heat over boiling water lets the egg proteins thicken the mixture smoothly. Stronger or direct heat can scramble the eggs, leaving a grainy icing.
“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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