Mulled Milk

Pronunciation matters.

Beta Taster: "Why would they include invalid [in' val id] recipes?"
Me: "I think they mean invalid [in vəl' id] recipes, you know, what they used to call sick people."
Beta Taster: "Ah. I was wondering why they had included recipes that don't work."

A simple, four ingredient recipe.

Sorry it's been a while, faithful reader. This one caught my eye for two reasons. Reason the first: I wanted to try an invalid recipe. I wanted to see what people 100 years ago thought how health-promoting foods should taste like (and it's likely different that what we think of when we think of health food). Reason the second: Mulled Milk. I/you/we all have heard of mulled wine or mulled cider, the warming winter beverage; but what about mulled milk? You say you haven't heard of it either? Ok. Let's try it.

Boiling the milk and cinnamon.

Mulled Milk
(recipe adapted from Marion Neil's How to Cook in Casserole Dishes, 1912)

1 cup milk, separated
2 teaspoons, scant, sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 inch cinnamon stick

1. Boil milk, less 1 1/2 tablespoons, and cinnamon for 4 minutes. Remove cinnamon.
2. Mix sugar and egg yolk together with reserved milk.
3. Add hot milk to egg mixture, stir over heat a few minutes until it begins to thicken (but don't boil)
4. Strain and drink while hot.

Mulled milk.

Results: Too bad you're supposed to be sick to drink this. It tastes somewhere between egg nog and custard, but hot, and with a hint of cinnamon. Texture-wise: it's about as thick as a milkshake. I can see this being good for a sore throat and the flavors are pretty pedestrian, exactly what I like when I have a cold. The only downside to this drink is that after drinking it, I'm thirsty. Perhaps what I need is another.