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Cream Soda Without the Fountain

A homemade beverage made with coffee sugar, water, nutmeg, egg whites, gum arabic, lemon oil, bicarbonate of soda, and tartaric acid.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 12 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 the Fountain

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Combine coffee sugar, water, nutmeg, egg whites, gum arabic, and lemon oil.

  2. Mix all and place over a gentle fire, stirring well for about thirty minutes.

  3. Remove from the fire and strain the mixture.

  4. Divide the strained liquid into two equal parts.

Prepare the two parts

  1. Into one half add eight ounces of bicarbonate of soda.

  2. Into the other half add six ounces of tartaric acid.

  3. Shake the two parts well.

Serve

  1. When cold, pour three or four spoonfuls from each part into separate glasses, each one-third full of water.

  2. Stir each glass and pour the contents together.

  3. Serve the resulting cream soda.

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 F. L. Gillette and Hugo Ziemann. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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

Egg whites
Create a foam and light body in the drink.
Bicarbonate of soda
Reacts with the tartaric acid to release carbon dioxide, making the drink fizz.
Tartaric acid
Reacts with the bicarbonate of soda to release carbon dioxide and adds a sharp, tart taste.
Gum arabic (in the method)
Stabilises the mixture and helps keep the bubbles and body of the drink.

The step that matters

Shake the two parts well, then combine them only when cold. Bicarbonate and tartaric acid release carbon dioxide on contact, so the two parts must be mixed well and kept cool to hold fizz until serving.

“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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