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Drink

Milk Punch

A chilled alcoholic beverage made from milk, sugar, cream, brandy, and rum.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 5 ingredients
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Why it works: Brandy and rum 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 ↓

Milk Punch

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the milk

  1. Boil the milk and dissolve the sugar in it.

  2. Strain the mixture and let it cool partially.

Freeze

  1. Freeze the mixture slightly.

  2. Add the brandy, rum, and whipped cream, then mix well.

  3. Freeze a little longer.

Serve

  1. Serve in small china sorbet cups, and optionally grate nutmeg or cinnamon on top before serving.

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. Brandy + rumtop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,058 recipes

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

  2. Sugar + creamtop 9% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together43,450 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2,3-butanedione (butter, sweet).

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

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

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

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

  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

Milk
Forms the liquid base that gives the punch its body and creamy texture.
Loaf sugar
Adds sweetness and, dissolved in the liquid, lowers the freezing point for a softer set.
Cream
Adds richness and fat, making the frozen texture smooth and velvety.
Brandy
Adds aroma and flavour, and its alcohol keeps the mixture from freezing solid.
Rum
Adds aromatic depth and flavour, and its alcohol also keeps the mixture soft.

The step that matters

Freeze the mixture slightly, then add the spirits and cream. Freezing only partway leaves a slushy texture. Sugar and alcohol lower the freezing point, so over-freezing makes the punch hard and icy rather than smooth.

“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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