Name: Egg Cream
Ingredients: 1 egg yolk; 2 teaspoons cream or fresh milk; 2 drops oil of cinnamon

Why it works: Egg and cream are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 24% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 42,166 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Egg Cream

Ingredients

1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons cream or fresh milk
2 drops oil of cinnamon

Directions

Beat the egg yolk in a bowl.
Mix in the cream or fresh milk.
Add the oil of cinnamon and stir well.
Serve in a teacup.

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.

Egg + creamtop 24% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together42,166 recipes

Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).
Cream + cinnamontop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together4,510 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-heptanol (bitter, floral).
Egg + cinnamontop 28% of all pairs

Smell alikelow

Cooked together19,058 recipes

Shared aroma: 1-octen-3-ol (mushroom, earthy).

Egg and cream barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 42,166 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

Egg yolk: Adds richness and body, and its fat helps the drink feel smooth.
Cream or fresh milk: Adds moisture and fat, softening the texture and giving a creamy mouthfeel.
Oil of cinnamon: Provides the main aroma and flavour.