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 ↓
Frosting for Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
Beat the egg whites to a stiff froth.
Gradually stir in the powdered sugar and flavor with vanilla or orange flower water. Beat until very light.
Apply the coats
Add lemon juice and apply a thin coat of icing with a knife, dipping the knife in lemon juice occasionally.
Set the cake in a warm place to harden before applying the next coat.
For the second frosting, beat the egg white until frothy, then add 1/2 pound powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon powdered starch, and 1 teaspoon lemon juice.
Beat steadily until it holds its shape, which may take an hour.
Dredge a little flour over the cake and brush it off with a feather to prevent discoloration from the butter.
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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Vanilla + lemontop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together5,961 recipes
Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).
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Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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
- Egg whites
- Whipped into a stiff foam that gives the icing its light, airy structure.
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the foam to add sweetness and body, setting the icing as it firms.
- Lemon juice
- Adds acidity that brightens the flavor and helps keep the icing stable and white.
- Powdered starch
- Stabilizes the second frosting, helping it hold its shape as it sets.
The step that matters
Beating the second frosting until it holds its shape. Egg white foam must be beaten long enough to form stable air bubbles and a firm structure. Stopping early leaves a runny icing that slides off, while steady beating gives a icing that holds its shape when set.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, vanilla):
- Figfits better
- Blueberryfits better
- Peachfits better
- Lemonthe original
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, vanilla. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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