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 ↓
Unboiled Icing
Ingredients
Directions
In a bowl, combine the egg white and water.
Gradually stir in confectioner's sugar until the mixture reaches a spreadable consistency.
Add your desired flavoring.
If desired, add fruit coloring to achieve a pink hue.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Egg white
- Provides body and a smooth, glossy texture that sets as the icing dries.
- Confectioner's sugar
- Adds sweetness and thickens the liquid into a spreadable icing.
The step that matters
Gradually stir in confectioner's sugar. Sugar thickens the liquid quickly, so adding it in small amounts lets you stop at a spreadable consistency. Adding it all at once can make the icing stiff or lumpy.
“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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