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Egg-nog

A warm alcoholic beverage made with milk, eggs, sugar, brandy, rum, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Egg-nog

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-nog

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Scald the milk in a saucepan, but do not boil it.

  2. In a bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until frothy.

Combine

  1. Add the brandy, rum, and nutmeg to the egg mixture and beat thoroughly.

  2. Slowly add the scalded milk to the egg mixture, stirring well.

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. Milk + rumtop 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
Egg proteins thicken the drink and give it a rich, creamy body.
Sugar
Sweetens the drink and helps the beaten eggs hold their froth.
Milk
Forms the liquid base and adds creaminess to the finished drink.
Brandy
Adds aroma and warm flavor to the drink.

The step that matters

Slowly add the scalded milk. Hot milk poured in quickly can heat the eggs too fast and scramble them. Adding it slowly while stirring warms the eggs gradually, keeping the mixture smooth.

Swap the nutmeg

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

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

Fit is the average pairing score against milk, egg, sugar, brandy, rum. 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.

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