Why it works: Sugar and egg 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 ↓
Iceing for Cakes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the icing
Beat and sift the sugar.
Combine the sugar, rose water, and beaten egg whites in a bowl, then whisk the mixture well.
Ice the cake
Dip a feather in the icing.
Cover the cake thoroughly with the icing.
Harden and store
Place the cake in the oven to harden, but do not let it discolor.
Store the cake in a dry place.
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 + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + rosetop 25% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together3,584 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rose + eggtop 28% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,840 recipes
Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).
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 foam that gives the icing its light, set structure.
- Fine sugar
- Sweetens the icing and dissolves into the egg whites to add body.
- Rose water
- Adds a floral aroma and flavor to the icing.
The step that matters
Hardening in the oven without discoloring. Gentle heat dries and sets the egg white and sugar coating. Too much heat makes the sugars brown and the icing discolor, so the cake must be watched closely.
“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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