Why it works: Egg and milk are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 18% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 88,785 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Egg Nog
Ingredients
Directions
Make the base
Beat the egg yolk and sugar together until well combined.
Add the wine, brandy, or rum and the milk, mixing thoroughly.
Finish
In a separate bowl, beat the egg white until frothy.
Gently stir the frothy egg white into the mixture.
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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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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Wine + milktop 19% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together3,116 recipes
Shared aroma: sotolon (fenugreek, curry).
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Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together122,807 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
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Sugar + winetop 31% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together9,581 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 yolk
- Adds richness and emulsifies with the milk for a smooth, creamy body.
- Egg white
- Whipped to a froth, it lightens the texture and adds airy volume.
- Milk
- Provides the liquid base that makes the drink fluid and creamy.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the drink and helps stabilise the beaten yolk.
- Wine, brandy or rum
- Adds alcohol flavour and aroma and helps thin the mixture.
The step that matters
Gently stir the frothy egg white into the mixture. Beaten egg white is mostly air held in thin protein films. Stirring hard or too long knocks out that air, so the eggnog loses its light, frothy texture.
“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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