Why it works: Sugar and lemon are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Iceing for Cakes
ices two medium-sized cakesIngredients
Directions
Make the icing
In a large bowl, add the egg whites, ensuring no yolk is present.
Beat the egg whites with two wooden spoons until well mixed.
Gradually add the finely pounded sugar and lemon juice while beating.
Continue until the mixture is white, smooth, and holds its shape.
This quantity will ice two medium-sized cakes.
Ice and dry the cake
Pour the icing over the cake and smooth it with a card.
Place the cake in a warm area or near the fire to dry, turning it often.
Decorate
To decorate, add ornaments while the icing is wet or attach them with a mixture of egg white and sugar after the icing dries.
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 + lemontop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together53,532 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Egg + lemontop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together44,316 recipes
Shared aroma: (e,e)-2,4-decadienal (fatty, deep fried).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 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
- Egg whites
- Whisked egg whites form the foam structure that gives the icing its body and white colour.
- Double-refined sugar
- Fine sugar dissolves into the whites and helps the icing set smooth and hold its shape.
- Lemon juice
- Acidity helps stabilise the whipped egg white foam so it stays firm and glossy.
The step that matters
Beating the egg whites with sugar. Any trace of yolk, fat or grease prevents egg whites from foaming properly, so the icing will stay thin. Sugar added gradually while beating keeps the foam stable and glossy.
Swap the lemon
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar):
- Vanillafits better
- Raisinfits about as well
- Lemonthe original
- Datesfits less well
Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.
“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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