Skip to main content
Dessert

Nutmeg Syrup

A syrup made from nutmegs, sugar, egg, water, and brandy.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 6 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Nutmeg and brandy are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 15% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,311 recipes. Both carry linalool, which smells floral, citrus. The science ↓

Nutmeg Syrup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the nutmeg infusion

  1. Place the nutmegs in a saucepan and add the hot water.

  2. Boil for 30 minutes, then strain the mixture.

Make the syrup

  1. In a separate bowl, beat the egg with the cold water.

  2. Add the strained liquid to the sugar and beaten egg.

  3. Heat over a fire until it boils, skimming until clear.

  4. Reduce to a syrup consistency, then let it cool.

  5. Mix in the brandy once cooled.

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. Nutmeg + brandytop 15% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together4,311 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  2. Nutmeg + eggtop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together24,744 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

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

    Shared aroma: acetoin (butter, cream).

  4. Sugar + brandytop 19% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together11,939 recipes

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

  5. Nutmeg + sugartop 20% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together23,364 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Nutmeg and egg barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 24,744 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

Nutmegs
Provide the main aromatic flavour, which is extracted into the hot water during boiling.
Sugar
Provides sweetness and, once cooked down, the thick body of the syrup.
Egg
Beaten egg helps collect impurities that rise during boiling, so skimming leaves the syrup clear.
Brandy
Adds alcohol flavour and helps preserve the syrup.

The step that matters

Skimming while the syrup boils. Impurities rise to the surface as the mixture heats. Skimming them off while it boils keeps the syrup clear. Reducing it to the right consistency then gives it body without over-thickening.

Swap the nutmeg

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

  1. Cinnamonfits about as well
  2. Nutmegthe original
  3. Gingerfits less well
  4. Allspicefits less well

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

You might also like

Brandy PeachesBrandy Peaches68 recipesBrandy CreamBrandy Cream21 recipesBrandy PuddingBrandy Pudding13 recipesWhite CakeWhite Cake431 recipes