Why it works: Sugar and vinegar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 20,806 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
Icing for Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Make the icing
Beat the egg whites until stiff.
Gradually add the sugar and a little vinegar while continuing to beat.
Ice the cake
Pour the icing over the cake.
Smooth the icing on the top and sides with a knife.
Set the cake in a warm place until the icing hardens.
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 + vinegartop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together20,806 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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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 + vinegartop 33% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together12,922 recipes
Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Egg and vinegar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 12,922 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 foam that gives the icing its airy structure and body.
- Fine ground sugar
- Sweetens the icing and dissolves into the foam, helping it set firm as it hardens.
- Vinegar
- Acidity that helps stabilize the whipped egg white foam.
The step that matters
Beat the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped to stiff peaks before sugar is added. Underbeaten whites produce a thin, unstable foam that will not hold the icing's structure, while adding sugar gradually keeps the foam glossy and strong.
“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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