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 ↓
Yellow Glaze or Boiled Icing
Ingredients
Directions
Boil the sugar and water for 5 minutes.
Check if a drop in cold water sets into a soft ball.
Remove from heat and let it cool slightly.
Add the flavoring extract when nearly cold.
Pour over cakes or use as icing.
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 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
- Granulated sugar
- Dissolves in water and cooks into a syrup that sets as the icing firms.
- Egg yolks
- Add richness and body to the icing, giving it a smooth, tender texture.
The step that matters
Check for the soft ball stage. Sugar syrup changes quickly as it boils. Testing a drop in cold water shows when it reaches the soft ball stage, which determines whether the icing sets soft and smooth or turns hard and grainy.
“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.
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.