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Drink

Egg-nog

A chilled beverage made with egg yolk, sugar, egg white, rum or brandy, milk, nutmeg, and optional whipped cream.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Egg-nog

Why it works: Sugar and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 9% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 43,450 recipes. Both carry 2,3-butanedione, which smells butter, sweet. The science ↓

Egg-nog

Ingredients

Directions

  1. Beat the egg yolk and sugar until light and creamy.

  2. Whip the egg white until stiff peaks form.

  3. Gently mix the yolk mixture with the whipped egg white.

  4. Pour into a glass and add rum or brandy.

  5. Fill the glass with milk and stir or shake well.

  6. Add more sugar and rum to taste.

  7. Grate nutmeg over the top.

  8. For a richer drink, substitute milk with whipped cream.

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. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

  2. Rum + nutmegtop 11% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together646 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  3. Rum + milktop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together967 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Nutmeg + creamtop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,920 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  5. Sugar + rumtop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,908 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).

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 a creamy body to the drink.
Egg white
Whipped to stiff peaks, it lightens the drink and adds a frothy texture.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that carries the eggs and spirit.
Sugar
Sweetens the drink and helps the yolk whip to a creamy texture.

The step that matters

Gently mix the yolk mixture with the whipped egg white. Egg white foam holds air only while it is intact. Folding gently keeps the bubbles in, so the drink stays light and frothy instead of deflating.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Nutmegthe original
  2. Cinnamonfits about as well
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Peppermintfits less well

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