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Drink

Egg-noggs

A chilled beverage made with eggs, powdered sugar, milk, sweet cream, and brandy or whisky.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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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-noggs

Ingredients

Directions

Make the eggnog

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs until frothy.

  2. Add the powdered sugar and mix well.

  3. Stir in the new milk and sweet cream until combined.

  4. Gradually add the brandy or whisky, mixing thoroughly.

Serve

  1. Serve chilled.

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.

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

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

  2. Milk + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together3,738 recipes

    Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

  3. Cream + brandytop 16% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together2,635 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).

  4. Egg + brandytop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together7,340 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

  5. Milk + creamtop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together29,399 recipes

    Shared aroma: delta-dodecalactone (sweet, creamy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Beaten eggs give the drink body and a rich, thick texture.
Powdered sugar
Sweetens the drink and dissolves easily into the liquid.
New milk
Forms the liquid base and adds creaminess and mild sweetness.
Sweet cream
Adds fat for richness and a smoother, fuller mouthfeel.
Brandy or whisky
Adds alcoholic warmth and aroma and helps preserve the drink.

The step that matters

Gradually add the brandy or whisky, mixing thoroughly. Adding spirit slowly and mixing well keeps the blend smooth. Alcohol can curdle or thicken dairy and egg mixtures if poured in all at once, so gradual addition helps it stay even.

“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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