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Cambridge Milk Punch

A chilled punch made with milk, lemon rind, sugar, eggs, rum, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 7 ingredients
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Cambridge Milk Punch

Why it works: Rum and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 1,058 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Cambridge Milk Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Make the punch base

  1. Combine 2 quarts of new milk, thinly pared lemon rind, and 1 cup of sugar in a large pot.

  2. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, then remove the lemon rind.

  3. Take the pot off the heat.

Finish and serve

  1. Quickly stir in the whisked eggs mixed with ½ pint of cold milk, strained through a sieve.

  2. Ensure the milk does not boil after adding the eggs.

  3. Gradually add 1 pint of rum and ½ pint of brandy.

  4. Froth the punch and serve immediately in warm glasses.

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. Rum + brandytop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

  2. Milk + rumtop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together967 recipes

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

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

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

  4. Milk + lemontop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together19,053 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

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

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

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

What each ingredient does

Eggs
Thicken the milk into a smooth, creamy punch as they set gently with heat.
Milk
Forms the creamy body of the punch and mellows the spirits.
Rum
Adds the main spirit flavour and warmth to the punch.
Brandy
Adds fruity depth and aroma alongside the rum.
Sugar
Sweetens the punch and balances the alcohol.

The step that matters

Ensure the milk does not boil after adding the eggs. Eggs scramble and curdle when overheated, so the milk must stay below boiling once they go in. Stirring them in quickly off the heat helps them blend smoothly into the punch.

Swap the lemon

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

  1. Vanillafits better
  2. Pineapplefits better
  3. Apricotfits better
  4. Lemonthe original

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