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Drink

Mulled Cider

A warm beverage made by simmering cider with eggs and sugar.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 3 ingredients
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Why it works: Egg and sugar 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 ↓

Mulled Cider

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Beat the eggs until light.

  2. Add sugar according to the acidity of the cider.

Combine and heat

  1. Pour the boiling cider over the egg mixture while stirring briskly.

  2. Return the mixture to the fire and stir until it boils.

  3. Pour off the mulled cider.

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. Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  2. Cider + sugartop 27% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,308 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethanol (alcoholic, ethereal).

  3. Cider + eggtop 34% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together838 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

Eggs
Their proteins set when heated, thickening the drink and giving it body.
Cider
Forms the liquid base and supplies the tart acidity that the sugar is adjusted to balance.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the cider's acidity.

The step that matters

Pouring the boiling cider over the eggs. If hot cider hits the eggs all at once, or is not stirred constantly, the egg proteins cook suddenly and form lumps or scrambled bits. Pouring slowly while stirring briskly gently warms the eggs so the mixture stays smooth.

“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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