Why it works: Milk and brandy 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 ↓
Egg Nog
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Warm the milk in a tin pint, but do not let it get hot.
In a goblet, beat the egg yolk with the granulated sugar until well combined.
Stir in the warm milk and brandy.
Add the egg white
In a separate bowl, beat the egg white with the white sugar until stiff.
Gently fold the beaten egg white into the mixture.
Serve
Serve as a refreshing drink.
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.
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Milk + brandytop 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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Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together88,785 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Milk + sugartop 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).
Milk and sugar 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
- Milk
- Forms the liquid base and adds richness and body to the drink.
- Egg yolk
- Thickens and enriches the base, giving it a smooth, creamy texture.
- Brandy
- Adds aroma and warm flavour to the drink.
- Egg white
- Whipped to a stiff foam, it lightens the texture of the finished drink.
The step that matters
Warm the milk gently. The milk should be warm, not hot. High heat can scramble or curdle the egg yolk when the warm milk is stirred in, leaving a grainy drink instead of a smooth custard-like base.
“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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