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Drink

Baltimore Egg-nog

A rich egg-based holiday drink made with rum, brandy, milk, cream, sugar, nutmeg, and beaten egg whites.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 8 ingredients
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Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Baltimore Egg-nog

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. In a bowl, beat the yolks of 5 eggs until well combined.

  2. Gradually mix in 1 cup of powdered sugar until smooth.

  3. Slowly add 1 pint of rum and 1 cup of brandy, stirring continuously.

  4. Incorporate 1 quart of milk and 1 quart of heavy cream into the mixture.

  5. Add the grated nutmeg and mix well.

Finish and rest

  1. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form, then gently fold them into the egg mixture.

  2. Prepare the egg-nog a day before serving for best flavor.

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 + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

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

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

  3. Rum + nutmegtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together646 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

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

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

  5. Cream + nutmegtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

What each ingredient does

Egg yolks
Add richness and emulsify the liquid into a smooth, creamy body.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the base and dissolves smoothly into the yolks.
Rum
Adds alcohol flavor and aroma and helps preserve the drink.
Brandy
Contributes warm, fruity aroma and additional alcohol flavor.
Milk
Thins the base to a pourable consistency while adding dairy flavor.
Heavy cream
Adds fat for a rich, smooth mouthfeel.
Egg whites
Whipped to stiff peaks, they lighten the texture and add airy body.

The step that matters

Folding in the egg whites. Whipped whites hold air that gives eggnog its light body. Stirring them in vigorously knocks out the air, so fold gently with a spatula until just combined.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, rum, brandy, milk, cream):

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Cinnamonfits about as well
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, rum, brandy, milk, cream. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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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