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Mocha Frosting

A butter-based frosting flavored with coffee and powdered sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Butter and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 118,967 recipes. Both carry decanal, which smells soap, orange peel. The science ↓

Mocha Frosting

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Wash the butter in cold water to remove salt, then pat dry.

  2. Beat the butter until creamy.

  3. Add the egg yolk and mix well.

  4. Gradually add the powdered sugar, mixing until smooth.

  5. Stir in strong coffee until the desired flavor is achieved.

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.

  1. Butter + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together118,967 recipes

    Shared aroma: decanal (soap, orange peel).

  2. Sugar + coffeetop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,344 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  3. Butter + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together98,233 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Butter + coffeetop 23% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together2,442 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-furfurylthiol (coffee, roasted).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Unsalted butter
Provides fat for richness and, when beaten, traps air for a creamy, spreadable texture.
Egg yolk
Emulsifies the butter and sugar, helping the frosting stay smooth and rich.
Powdered sugar
Adds sweetness and body, thickening the butter into a frosting that holds its shape.
Strong coffee
Adds the coffee flavor that gives the frosting its mocha character.

The step that matters

Gradually add the powdered sugar. Adding the sugar in portions lets it dissolve evenly into the butter. Dumping it in all at once can leave grainy lumps that the frosting cannot easily smooth out.

“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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