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Dessert

Hampshire Syllabub

A sweet dessert made with beer, brandy, sugar, nutmeg, milk, and currants.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and currant are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 3,057 recipes. Both carry ethyl cinnamate, which smells sweet, balsamic. The science ↓

Hampshire Syllabub

Ingredients

Directions

Mix

  1. Combine the beer and brandy in a large bowl.

  2. Add sugar and nutmeg to taste.

  3. Pour in milk to achieve desired consistency.

Stand and serve

  1. Let the mixture stand for one hour after mixing.

  2. Strew the top with currants that have been simmered in a little white wine or strong beer.

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. Brandy + curranttop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together3,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  2. Beer + milktop 13% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together298 recipes

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

  3. Beer + brandytop 14% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together39 recipes

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

  4. Nutmeg + milktop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Brandy + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

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

What each ingredient does

Strong old home-brewed beer
Forms the main liquid base and gives a malty, slightly sour flavour.
Brandy
Adds alcohol and aroma, and its acidity helps the milk thicken.
Milk
Adds richness and creamy body to the drink.
Sugar
Adds sweetness to balance the sourness and alcohol.

The step that matters

Pouring in the milk. Milk added to an acidic, alcoholic base can curdle and turn lumpy. Pour it in slowly while mixing so it thickens smoothly, and add only enough to reach the desired consistency.

Swap the nutmeg

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beer, brandy, sugar, milk, currant):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Clovefits about as well
  3. Gingerfits about as well
  4. Nutmegthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beer, brandy, sugar, milk, currant. 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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