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 ↓
Method of Making Water Ices and Sherbets
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
In a double boiler, cook water and sugar until clear to make a syrup.
Remove any scum and strain the syrup through fine muslin cloth.
Let the syrup cool, then add fruit juice.
Churn and finish
Pour the mixture into a freezer, pack with ice and coarse sea salt, and freeze.
Turn the crank slowly until the mixture becomes stiff.
Open the can, scrape down the sides, and stir until smooth.
Add the beaten egg white mixed with powdered sugar and work in until smooth.
Let the mixture ripen for 2 to 3 hours, covered with a wet brine cloth.
Beat again and pack down before serving.
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
- Dissolves into the water to make a syrup that sweetens the ice and keeps it soft.
- Egg white
- Whipped foam adds air and a lighter, smoother texture to the frozen mixture.
- Fruit juice
- Provides the main flavor and acidity of the water ice.
The step that matters
Work in the beaten egg white until smooth. Folding the egg white in after the mixture is partly frozen keeps it from collapsing and lets it blend evenly, giving a smooth, airy texture instead of a grainy one.
“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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