Why it works: Egg and sugar 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 ↓
Egg-flip
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Heat the ale in a pot until scalding hot.
In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the brown sugar until creamy.
In another bowl, beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.
Combine
Pour the hot ale over the yolk mixture while stirring constantly.
Quickly fold in the beaten egg whites until smooth.
Serve
Serve immediately.
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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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Freshly drawn ale
- Hot liquid base that warms the yolks and adds moisture and malty flavor.
- Egg yolks
- Thicken the drink as they warm and add richness and a creamy body.
- Brown sugar
- Adds sweetness and a molasses flavor that balances the ale.
- Egg whites
- Whipped to stiff peaks, they add lightness and an airy, foamy texture.
The step that matters
Pouring the hot ale over the yolks while stirring constantly. Adding hot liquid to yolks all at once can scramble them. Pouring slowly while stirring spreads the heat evenly so the yolks warm and thicken smoothly.
“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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