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 ↓
Meringues
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a moderate oven”. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Make the meringue
Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Whip the egg whites in a bowl until stiff.
Gradually mix in the sugar until well combined.
Spoon portions of the mixture onto buttered baking sheets, shaping them like eggs.
Dredge pounded sugar over the meringues.
Bake until they turn a pale yellow, then remove from the oven.
Hollow and assemble
Detach the meringues from the paper and cut them in half with a sharp knife.
Scoop out the insides carefully and return the halves to the oven to dry.
Fill the halves with flavored whipped cream and join them with egg white cement.
Serve piled on a napkin.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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 whites
- Whipped into foam, they trap air and set into the light, crisp structure of the meringue.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the meringue and, dissolved into the foam, stabilises it and helps it dry crisp.
The step that matters
Whipping the egg whites until stiff. Egg whites must be whipped to a firm foam before the sugar is added. Any trace of fat or yolk prevents the foam from forming, and under-whipped whites collapse during baking, leaving flat, dense meringues.
“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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