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 cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare
In a bowl, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.
Sift in the castor sugar and gently fold it into the egg whites.
Line a baking sheet with oiled parchment paper.
Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a plain nozzle.
Shape and bake
Pipe small round or oval shapes onto the paper, spacing them about 1 inch apart.
Dredge the meringues with additional castor sugar.
Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 2 hours until pale fawn and crisp.
Turn the meringues over, scoop out any soft centers, and let them dry in a warm 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.
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 a foam that traps air, giving the meringues their light, airy structure.
- Castor sugar
- Stabilizes the whipped foam and, as it bakes, dries into a crisp, sweet shell.
The step that matters
Folding in the sugar. Adding sugar gently keeps the foam from deflating. Overmixing knocks out the trapped air, while slow baking at a low temperature dries the meringue without browning it too quickly.
“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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