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 ↓
Cream of Nectar
Ingredients
Directions
Make the syrup base
Combine two quarts of water, two pounds of sugar, two ounces of citric acid, two tablespoons of corn starch, and the whites of four eggs beaten to a froth.
Heat the mixture, stirring, until it is near boiling.
Add corn starch dissolved in a little cold water, and continue to boil.
When the mixture boils, stir in the beaten egg whites just after removing it from the heat.
Bottle and serve
Let the mixture cool, skim off any solids, and bottle it for use.
(Optional) Flavor the bottled mixture if desired.
To serve, mix two or three large spoons of the mixture into a glass of cold water with about a fourth of a teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda.
Store the drink in a cool place; it will keep for several weeks.
Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)
Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume: 3 portions
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Water | not in our table | 0 |
One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.
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. See the original page.
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).
-
Sugar + corntop 21% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together7,168 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
-
Corn + eggtop 26% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,484 recipes
Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Sugar
- Provides sweetness and body to the syrup base.
- Citric acid
- Adds acidity, giving the drink its tart flavor.
- Egg whites
- Foam when beaten and set into the mixture, clarifying it as they cook.
- Corn starch
- Thickens the mixture so it has a fuller, smoother body.
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Reacts with the acid when added at serving, producing fizz.
The step that matters
Stir in the beaten egg whites just after removing from the heat. Adding the whites to a boiling mixture would scramble them into solid bits, while adding them off the heat lets them set gently and be skimmed out with the solids.
“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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