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 ↓
Ice Ckeam Icing Foe White Cake
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Boil 2 cups of powdered sugar to a thick syrup.
Remove from heat and add 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
Let it cool, then fold in the beaten egg whites and 2 teaspoons of citric acid.
Make the icing
In a separate bowl, combine 1 pound of powdered sugar with 1 tablespoon of cold water.
Beat 3 egg whites lightly and add to the sugar and water mixture.
Place the bowl in a vessel of boiling water and heat gently.
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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Vanilla + eggtop 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
- Powdered sugar
- Dissolves into the syrup and gives the icing its sweetness and body.
- Egg whites
- Add structure and a light, airy texture as they are beaten and set.
- Citric acid
- Adds acidity that helps stabilise the beaten egg whites and keeps them from weeping.
- Vanilla extract
- Adds aroma and flavour to the white icing.
The step that matters
Heat the egg white mixture gently over boiling water. Egg whites cook quickly and can scramble or turn grainy if overheated. Gentle heat thickens the mixture slowly, giving a smooth, glossy icing.
“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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