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Egg Wine

Egg Wine is a warm beverage made from beaten eggs, sugar, milk, vanilla, and nutmeg.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Egg Wine

Why it works: Milk and vanilla are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 19,187 recipes. Both carry ethyl caproate, which smells fruity, apple peel. The science ↓

Egg Wine

Ingredients

Directions

Make the custard

  1. In a bowl, beat the eggs and sugar together until well combined.

  2. Gradually add the milk, stirring continuously.

  3. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat gently over low heat.

  4. Stir constantly for about one minute, ensuring it does not boil.

Finish and serve

  1. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract and nutmeg.

  2. Serve warm with toast.

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. Milk + vanillatop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,187 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl caproate (fruity, apple peel).

  2. Sugar + vanillatop 8% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together35,032 recipes

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

  3. Vanilla + nutmegtop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together2,781 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  4. Milk + nutmegtop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,685 recipes

    Shared aroma: eucalyptol (eucalyptus, herbal).

  5. Egg + nutmegtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

Sugar and vanilla barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 35,032 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
Thicken the mixture as they gently set with heat, giving body to the custard.
Sugar
Sweetens the custard and helps dissolve into the beaten eggs.
Milk
Forms the liquid base that the eggs thicken into a smooth custard.
Nutmeg
Adds a warm, aromatic spice flavour to the finished custard.

The step that matters

Heating the custard gently and not letting it boil. Egg proteins set as they warm, and if the mixture gets too hot it can curdle or turn grainy. Stirring constantly and keeping the heat low spreads heat evenly and keeps the custard smooth.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Clovefits less well
  4. Peppermintfits less well

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