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 ↓
Marshmallow Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Boil sugar and water until it reaches 240°F (115°C) or the hair stage.
Pour the hot syrup in a fine stream onto the beaten egg whites, beating constantly.
Continue beating until the mixture is cool but not cold.
Cut marshmallows into fourths and fold them into the icing.
Ensure the icing is thick and creamy, so it piles on the cake rather than runs off.
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
- Granulated sugar
- Sweetens the icing and, boiled with water, forms the syrup that sets the egg whites.
- Egg whites
- Whip into a foam that gives the icing its light, airy structure.
- Marshmallows
- Add sweetness and softness, making the icing thick and creamy.
The step that matters
Pour the hot syrup in a fine stream while beating constantly. Pouring the syrup slowly while beating keeps it from scrambling the egg whites and lets it cook the foam evenly into a stable, glossy meringue.
“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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