Why it works: Orange and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,634 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓
Milk Punch, to Keep
Ingredients
Directions
Infuse the rum
Pare the peels of the oranges and lemons as thin as possible.
Place the peels in a large container and pour the rum over the peels.
Cover the container and let it sit for 24 hours.
Make the syrup
Boil the 6 quarts of water, then let the water cool.
Boil the sugar with a small amount of water to create a syrup.
Froth the syrup with the egg whites and shells.
Strain the syrup and let it cool.
Combine, age and bottle
Remove the peels.
Add the cooled water to the strained rum.
Stir the cooled syrup into the clear juice of the oranges and lemons.
Combine the mixture with the rum and water, stirring continuously.
Heat the milk until hot but not boiling, let it cool slightly, then stir the milk into the mixture.
Pour everything into a cask or stone bottle and cork it well.
Let it sit for six months.
Bottle in wine bottles.
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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Orange + lemontop 1% of all pairsSmell alikestrongCooked together10,634 recipes
Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).
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Rum + milktop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together967 recipes
Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).
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Orange + rumtop 12% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together801 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Rum + sugartop 14% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together2,908 recipes
Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
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Lemon + milktop 15% of all pairsSmell alikemoderateCooked together19,053 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Seville oranges
- Provide acidity and aromatic oil from the peel, plus juice for tartness.
- Lemons
- Add sharp acidity and bright aroma from the peel and juice.
- Old rum
- Acts as the solvent that draws flavor and aroma out of the citrus peels.
- Loaf sugar
- Adds sweetness and body, balancing the acidity of the citrus.
- Egg whites
- Frothing the syrup lets them gather impurities, helping clarify the punch.
- Milk
- Helps clear the punch as it settles, softening harsh tannins and cloudiness.
The step that matters
Paring the peels. Only the thin outer zest should be removed, because the white pith beneath is bitter. Thin peels give the rum aroma and flavor without harshness.
Swap the orange
How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (lemon, rum, sugar, egg, milk):
- Vanillafits better
- Pineapplefits about as well
- Orangethe original
- Figfits about as well
Fit is the average pairing score against lemon, rum, sugar, egg, milk. 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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