Why it works: Sugar and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 35,032 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓
White Mountain Cream
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar and boiling water in a saucepan.
Stir the mixture to prevent the sugar from sticking.
Heat the mixture to a boiling point and boil without stirring until a soft ball forms when dropped into cold water.
Finish the cream
Gradually pour the syrup into the beaten egg white while continuing to beat until it reaches a spreadable consistency.
Add vanilla and mix well.
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 + vanillatop 8% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together35,032 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + vanillatop 23% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together27,347 recipes
Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).
Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and, when boiled, forms the syrup that sets the cream's body.
- Egg white
- Beaten into a foam that gives the cream its light, airy structure.
- Vanilla
- Adds aroma and a rounded flavour to the sweet cream.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot syrup into the egg white. Pour the syrup in a slow, thin stream while beating constantly. The hot syrup partly cooks and sets the egg white proteins, and pouring too fast or stopping the beater can collapse the foam or leave cooked lumps.
“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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