Name: Clove Drops
Ingredients: 1 oz. of cloves (about 2 tablespoons); 1 lb. of finely-pounded sugar (about 4 cups); whites of 2 eggs, whisked to a froth; 1 pint of water (about 4 cups)

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 ↓

Clove Drops

Oven, in the book's wordsA very cool oven

Ingredients

1 oz. of cloves (about 2 tablespoons)
1 lb. of finely-pounded sugar (about 4 cups)
whites of 2 eggs, whisked to a froth
1 pint of water (about 4 cups)

Directions

The book says “a very cool oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.

Prepare

Pound the cloves in a mortar and sift the powder through a fine sieve.

Make and shape the drops

Mix the sifted cloves with the sugar, egg whites, and water.
Using a teaspoon, drop the mixture onto stiff white writing paper.

Bake

Bake in a cool oven at 300°F (150°C) and remove when cool.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Clove + sugartop 26% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together17,182 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).
Clove + eggtop 35% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together10,584 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-methylbutyraldehyde (malty, chocolate).

Clove and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 17,182 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 to a froth, they add lift and bind the sugar and clove into a soft, airy mixture.
Sugar: Provides sweetness and bulk, and helps the drops set into a crisp, dry texture as they bake.
Cloves: Supply the main spice aroma and flavor of the drops.