Name: Egg Nogs
Ingredients: 8 oz. milk or thin cream; 2 eggs; 1 tablespoon sugar; optional: 1 oz. spirits

Why it works: Milk and egg 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 Nogs

Ingredients

8 oz. milk or thin cream
2 eggs
1 tablespoon sugar
optional: 1 oz. spirits

Directions

In a bowl, combine 8 ounces of milk or thin cream with 2 eggs.
Add 1 tablespoon of sugar and mix well until combined.
For an extra boost, add 1 ounce of spirits if desired.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.

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.

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.

Milk + eggtop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together88,785 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Milk + sugartop 18% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together77,875 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Egg + sugartop 21% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together122,807 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Sugar + spirittop 25% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together602 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Milk + spirittop 27% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together100 recipes

Shared aroma: ethyl butyrate (apple, fruity).

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

Eggs: Provide structure and richness, thickening the drink as they carry the body of the eggnog.
Milk or thin cream: Supplies the liquid base and creamy body that the eggs blend into.
Sugar: Adds sweetness and balances the richness of the eggs and dairy.

“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.