Name: French Milk of Roses
Ingredients: 24 pints of rosewater; 4 pints of rosemary water; 2 ounces of tincture of storax; 2 ounces of tincture of benzoin; 4 ounces of esprit de corps

French Milk of Roses

Ingredients

24 pints of rosewater
4 pints of rosemary water
2 ounces of tincture of storax
2 ounces of tincture of benzoin
4 ounces of esprit de corps

Directions

Mix the rosewater and rosemary water in a large bowl.
Add the tincture of storax, tincture of benzoin, and esprit de corps to the mixture.
Stir well to combine all ingredients.

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

What each ingredient does

Rosewater: Provides the main floral aroma and makes up the bulk of the liquid base.
Rosemary water: Adds a herbal aromatic note that complements the rose scent.
Tincture of storax: Contributes a warm, balsamic resinous aroma to the blend.
Tincture of benzoin: Adds a sweet, vanilla-like resinous aroma and helps the scent linger.
Esprit de corps: Alcohol-based spirit that dissolves the aromatic tinctures and disperses their scent through the liquid.

“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.