Why it works: Egg and sugar 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 ↓
To Clarify Sugar
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Ensure the pan is clean and bright.
Whisk the egg whites in 1 pint of water.
Break the sugar into small pieces. Place the sugar pieces in the pan.
Pour 6 quarts of water over the sugar.
Dissolve and clarify
Heat on a clear fire or stove.
Avoid boiling until the sugar is melted.
If the mixture rises, add 1 pint of water immediately.
Repeat adding 1 pint of water as needed to prevent boiling over for 2-3 times.
Remove the scum that rises to the top.
Continue to simmer.
Add water to help the remaining scum rise.
When the scum is white and tough, remove it.
Test
Test the sugar by dipping your finger.
If a drop hangs, the sugar is ready for use.
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.
-
Egg + sugartop 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
- Egg whites
- Coagulate when heated, trapping impurities so they rise as scum that can be removed.
- Sugar
- Forms the sweet syrup base that is clarified and then used for cooking.
The step that matters
Avoid boiling until the sugar is melted. Boiling too early makes the mixture rise and boil over, and vigorous boiling can stir impurities back in. Gentle heat lets the egg white bind impurities so they can be skimmed off cleanly.
“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.
More clarified sugar recipes
You might also like
White Cake431 recipes
Pound Cake373 recipes
Orange Bundt Cake349 recipes
Spice Cake344 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.