Skip to main content
Drink

Egg Nogg

A chilled beverage made from eggs, sugar, brandy, rum, and milk, topped with whipped egg whites and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓
Egg Nogg

Why it works: Brandy and rum are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Egg Nogg

Ingredients

Directions

Make the base

  1. Beat the egg yolks in a bowl until smooth.

  2. Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to each egg yolk and mix until bubbles appear.

  3. Slowly pour in the brandy while stirring continuously.

  4. Gradually add the milk while stirring, then add the rum to taste.

Finish and serve

  1. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

  2. Top the eggnog with the whipped egg whites and sprinkle with nutmeg before serving.

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.

Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it

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. Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  2. Rum + nutmegtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together646 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Rum + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together967 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

  5. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Yolks add richness and body, while whipped whites give a light, airy topping.
Sugar
Adds sweetness that balances the alcohol and the richness of the yolks.
Brandy
Contributes its warm, fruity aroma and flavor to the drink.
Milk
Provides the liquid base and a creamy, smooth texture.
Rum
Adds depth of flavor and aroma, added to taste.

The step that matters

Beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Whites beaten until stiff hold air and sit lightly on top. Overbeaten whites turn dry and grainy and tend to weep liquid, so stop once the peaks stand upright.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, sugar, brandy, rum, milk):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Clovefits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, sugar, brandy, rum, milk. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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.

More eggnog recipes

Frozen 13Hot 7Sauce 4Fruit 4Lemon 4Southern 4 See all 231 →

You might also like

Vegetable SoupVegetable Soup350 recipesRaspberry VinegarRaspberry Vinegar214 recipesBrown Coffee with EggBrown Coffee with Egg175 recipesBlackberry CordialBlackberry Cordial129 recipes