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Old Virginia Eggnog

A frothy alcoholic eggnog made with eggs, whiskey, rum, sugar, milk or cream, and optional cinnamon oil.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and cognac brandy share more aroma than cooks usually use. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 68 recipes. Both carry 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol, which smells allspice, anise. The science ↓

Old Virginia Eggnog

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat the egg yolks until light.

  2. Add sugar and beat until light.

  3. Mix in whiskey, rum, and milk or cream, and beat until light.

  4. Fold in the egg whites that have been beaten to a froth.

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. Rum + cognac brandytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together68 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-methoxy-4-propylphenol (allspice, anise).

  2. Milk + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together12,655 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  3. Sugar + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together30,779 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  4. Rum + cinnamontop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together508 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Rum + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together967 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

Sugar and cinnamon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 30,779 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

Eggs
Yolks and whites give richness and a light, airy foam when beaten separately and folded in.
Whiskey
Adds alcohol and warm flavour, and helps keep the drink from tasting flat or heavy.
Rum
Adds aromatic depth and a sweet, warm note to the mixture.
Granulated sugar
Sweetens the mixture and helps the yolks beat to a lighter, smoother texture.
Milk or cream
Provides liquid body and a smooth, rich mouthfeel.

The step that matters

Fold in the egg whites. Egg whites beaten to a froth hold air that gives the eggnog its lightness. Stirring them in vigorously knocks that air out, so fold gently to keep the foam intact.

“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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