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Dessert

Caramel Icing

A sweet glaze made from sugar, butter, cream, caramel, and vanilla, boiled until thick.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Caramel Icing

Why it works: Butter and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 8% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 41,516 recipes. Both carry delta-dodecalactone, which smells sweet, creamy. The science ↓

Caramel Icing

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Boil the granulated sugar, cream, and butter without stirring until a small portion dropped into cold water forms a soft ball.

  2. Remove from heat and add the caramel and vanilla.

  3. Beat the mixture until it becomes milky looking and somewhat stiff.

  4. Use immediately.

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.

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.

  1. Butter + creamtop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together41,516 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  3. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  4. Butter + vanillatop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together20,050 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Cream + vanillatop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together12,301 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonanone (fruity, floral).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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

Granulated sugar
Dissolves and cooks into the caramel base that gives the icing its sweetness and flavour.
Butter
Adds fat for a smooth, rich texture and mouthfeel in the finished icing.
Light brown sugar
Adds molasses flavour and moisture, deepening the caramel taste.
Cream or rich milk
Supplies liquid and milk solids that help the sugar cook into a creamy, soft icing.

The step that matters

Boil without stirring to the soft-ball stage. Stirring can trigger sugar crystallisation, making the icing grainy. Cooking only to soft-ball stage sets the right firmness; overcooking makes it hard once cooled.

“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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