Why it works: Brandy and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,738 recipes. Both carry gamma-nonanolactone, which smells coconut, sweet. The science ↓
Uncooked Egg
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the base
Break the egg into a goblet and beat thoroughly.
Add the sugar and beat for a moment.
Stir in the brandy or port wine and beat well.
Finish the eggnog
Add as much rich milk or a mix of cream and milk as there is of the mixture.
Alternatively, omit the brandy and flavor with any spice.
Beat the egg whites separately and fold them in at the end.
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.
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Brandy + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,738 recipes
Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).
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Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together7,340 recipes
Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).
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Egg + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + milktop 18% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together77,875 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together11,939 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Sugar and milk barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 77,875 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
- Thickens and enriches the drink as it is beaten, giving body and a smooth texture.
- Sugar
- Adds sweetness and helps stabilize the beaten egg.
- Brandy or port wine
- Adds aroma and a warm, spirited flavor.
- Rich milk or a mix of cream and milk
- Adds richness, moisture and a smooth, creamy body.
The step that matters
Folding in the beaten egg whites. Whites beaten separately trap air that gives lightness. Folding them in gently at the end keeps that air, while vigorous stirring would deflate the foam and thin the drink.
“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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