Ingredients used in an egg cream

What are the ingredients of an egg cream?

Three ingredients: milk, seltzer (plain carbonated water) and chocolate syrup. Nothing else is needed. It tastes like a light, fizzy chocolate milk with a tall foam head.

Why is it called an egg cream if there is no egg or cream?

Nobody knows for sure. Explanations include early recipes with eggs, a French phrase for chocolate and cream, and a Yiddish phrase meaning pure sweetness. Treat all of these as folklore. What is certain is that the modern drink has neither egg nor cream.

The ingredients in detail

• Milk: whole milk is recommended; reduced-fat milk works, but anything lighter waters the drink down. Keep it cold.
• Seltzer: ice cold, freshly opened, with strong bubbles. The colder the seltzer, the better. Flat seltzer will not give a foam head.
• Chocolate syrup: Fox’s U-Bet is the choice of purists, according to Mental Floss. Other chocolate syrups work too, but results differ.

A common ratio

One recipe from the co-owner of a Brooklyn soda fountain, as reported by Mental Floss, uses about 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons milk (the glass about one-third full), about 3/4 cup seltzer and 3 tablespoons syrup. Treat it as a starting point and adjust to taste.

How to build it

1. Pour the milk into a tall glass.
2. Add the seltzer until the foam rises to the top.
3. Pour the syrup into the center and stir gently along the bottom so the foam stays.

Drink it right away. Adjust the amounts to your taste.

Can you make it dairy-free?

You can try a plant milk, but the foam and the flavor will not match the classic drink, so expect a different result.