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 ↓
Boiled Frosting
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup
Combine sugar and water in a saucepan.
Boil until the mixture reaches the 'soft ball' stage (when it feathers off the spoon).
Finish the frosting
Slowly pour the hot sugar mixture over the beaten egg white.
Beat the mixture until it cools and becomes fluffy.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
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
- Sugar
- Dissolves and cooks into a syrup that sets and sweetens the frosting.
- Egg white
- Whipped into a foam that traps air, giving the frosting its fluffy structure.
- Water
- Dissolves the sugar so it can be boiled into a smooth syrup.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot syrup into the egg white. Pour slowly in a thin stream while beating. Pouring too fast can deflate the whipped egg white, and the hot syrup cooks the egg white as it mixes, which stabilises the foam.
“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.