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 ↓
To Clarify Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Break sugar into large lumps and place it in a clean preserving pan.
Measure 3 quarts of water for 6 lbs of sugar.
For candying, use 2½ pints of water.
Beat the egg white lightly, then mix it with the water.
Make the syrup
Pour the egg mixture over the sugar and let it stand until nearly dissolved.
Stir thoroughly.
Place over gentle heat without disturbing it once boiling begins.
Boil for 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
Skim off the scum after a couple of minutes.
Return to heat and add a little reserved cold water.
Skim until the syrup is clear.
Strain through muslin or a thin cloth.
Transfer to a clean pan for further boiling.
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).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Forms the syrup base and provides sweetness once dissolved.
- Spring water
- Dissolves the sugar into a syrup that can be cleared and boiled.
- Egg white
- Its proteins coagulate with heat and trap impurities so they can be skimmed off.
The step that matters
Skimming the scum while the syrup boils. Impurities rise to the surface as the syrup heats. Removing them thoroughly, and not disturbing the syrup once boiling begins, keeps the final syrup clear instead of cloudy.
“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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