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Cream Soda Without a Fountain

A homemade carbonated drink made from coffee, nutmeg, egg whites, gum arabic, lemon oil, soda, and tartaric acid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Sterrett, Laura C · From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 13 ingredients
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Why it works: Nutmeg and egg are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 24,744 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Cream Soda Without a Fountain

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine 4 pounds of coffee, 3 pints of water, 3 grated nutmegs, whites of 10 eggs, 1 ounce gum arabic, and 20 drops lemon oil.

  2. Mix all and place over a gentle fire, stirring about 30 minutes.

  3. Strain the mixture and divide into two parts.

Prepare the two halves

  1. Into one part add 8 ounces of super‑carbonate of soda.

  2. Into the other part add 6 ounces of tartaric acid.

  3. Shake both parts well.

Serve

  1. When cold, pour 4 dessert spoons from each into separate glasses that are one-third full of cold water.

  2. Stir each glass and pour the contents together.

  3. Serve the drink. (Optional: flavor with other oils.)

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

139Calories
6 gProtein
6 gFat
14 gCarbs

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
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Nutmeg1 tsp ground (2.2g)12
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Sterrett, Laura C. 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. 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.

  1. Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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
Whites help clarify the mixture, trapping solids as it heats so the drink runs clear.
Gum arabic (in the method)
Acts as an emulsifier and stabilizer, keeping the oil dispersed and giving body to the liquid.
Super-carbonate of soda
Reacts with tartaric acid in water to release carbon dioxide, producing the fizz.
Tartaric acid
Reacts with the soda to release carbon dioxide and adds a sharp, tart flavor.

The step that matters

Combining the two halves into the glasses. The soda and acid must meet in the water to fizz, so each portion should be cold and the glasses stirred promptly; the reaction releases gas quickly and is lost if the mixture sits.

“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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