Various; primarily chocolate, but can be any flavored syrup
Ingredients
Flavored syrup, milk, soda water
An egg cream[1] is a cold beverage consisting of milk, carbonated water, and flavored syrup (typically chocolate or vanilla), as a substitute for an ice cream float.[2] Ideally, the glass is left with 2⁄3 liquid and 1⁄3 foamy head.[3] Despite the name, the drink contains neither eggs nor cream.[4]
The egg cream is primarily a fountain drink. It has been bottled under various brands,[5][6][7] but is still not well-represented on shelves in the US. This may be partially due to the drink's tendency to go flat quickly when prepared fresh.[8]
Etymology theories and speculations
[edit]The ingredients of an egg cream: Fox's U-Bet chocolate syrup,[9] seltzer, and whole milk
The peculiarity that an egg cream contains neither eggs nor cream has been explained in various ways. Stanley Auster, who claims that his grandfather invented the beverage, has said that the origins of the name are "lost in time."[10]
The egg cream originated among Yiddish-speaking Eastern European Jewish immigrants in New York City, so one explanation claims that egg is a corruption of the Yiddish echt ('genuine' or 'real'), making an egg cream a "good cream".[11]
Another explanation comes from reports that it grew out of a request for chocolat et crème from someone, possibly the actor Boris Thomashefsky[12] (who had experienced a similar drink in Paris).[13][14] His heavy accent altered the name into something like "egg cream," which then developed into the current term.
However, food historian Andrew Smith writes: "During the 1880s, a popular specialty was made with chocolate syrup, cream, and raw eggs mixed into soda water. In poorer neighborhoods, a less expensive version of this treat was created, called the Egg Cream (made without the eggs or cream)."[15] In fact, an 1850 source already presents a similar egg cream, but without the soda water and flavored differently: "How to Make Egg Cream. Take the yolk of an egg, with a dessert spoonful of cream or new milk, and, if convenient, add two drops of oil of cinnamon."[16] In 1885, George Peltz showed the froth being created by whipping the egg: "Egg Cream.—Beat a raw egg to a stiff froth; add a tablespoonful of white sugar and a half wineglass of good blackberry wine; add half a glass of cream; beat together thoroughly, and use at once."[17]
The term "egg cream" then was in fact used for mixtures that included both before it came to be used - by a process that is not well-documented - for a drink that included neither.
See also
[edit]
Drink portal
Dirty soda – Type of drink consisting of flavored soft drink mixtures
Italian soda – Soft drink
Milkis – South Korean soft drink
Pilk – Drink made from Pepsi and milk
Seltzer – Water containing dissolved carbon dioxide gasPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
List of chocolate beverages – A list of notable beverages flavoured with chocolate
References
[edit]
^"The New York Egg Cream". ArcGIS StoryMaps. 19 December 2019. Archived from the original on 27 November 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Stuart, Marcia. "The New York Egg Cream". EGO. Epicurus.com. Archived from the original on 31 March 2015. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Stern, Michael; Stern, Jane (Jul 10, 1985). "Egg Cream is a delicacy at candy store in Bronx". The Evening Independent. p. 3B. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
^Arenstein, Noah (2014-11-19). "12 things you didn't know about NYC egg creams". Thrillist. Archived from the original on 2022-05-17. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Jeff's New York Egg Cream (Discontinued), retrieved September 28, 2025
^B.I.G. Brooklyn Egg Cream Soda, retrieved September 28, 2025
^New Products: Poppi Cream Soda Returns; Mingle Mocktails Is In the 'Mood', retrieved September 28, 2025
^RachelRummel, Egg Cream, retrieved September 28, 2025
^Mead, Rebecca (8 August 2011). "Proustian". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on 30 November 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Mariani, John F. (1999). Encyclopedia of American Food and Drink. Lebhar-Friedman:New York.
^Ringler, Rachel (16 June 2021). "What is an egg cream and why is it so Jewish?". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Gould, Jillian (2002). "Candy Stores and Egg Creams". Jews of Brooklyn. UPNE. p. 203.
^Stradley, Linda (17 April 2015). "New York Egg Cream Recipe and History". What's Cooking America. Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Lee, Jennifer (5 August 2008). "Can the Egg Cream Make a Comeback?". City Room. The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on 28 January 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
^Smith, Andrew F. (2014). New York City: A Food Biography. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 111.
^Blake, John Lauris (1850). The Farmer's Every-day Book: Or, Sketches of Social Life in the Country: with the Popular Elements of Practical and Theoretical Agriculture, and Twelve Hundred Laconics and Apothegms Relating to Ethics, Religion, and General Literature; Also Five Hundred Receipts on Hygeian, Domestic, and Rural Economy. Derby, Miller and Company. p. 566.
^Peltz, George A. (1885). The Housewife's Library: (many Volumes in One) : Furnishing the Very Best Help in All the Necessities, Intricacies, Emergencies, and Vexations that Puzzle a Housekeeper in Every Department of Her Duties in the Home : Household Management, Domestic Cookery, Home Furnishing, Home Decoration, Polite Deportment, Trying Emergencies, Care of Children, Games, Amusements, Etc., General Hints. Edgewood Publishing Company. p. 250.
External links
[edit] Look up egg cream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Wikimedia Commons has media related to Egg cream.
Beller, Daniel. "The True Origins of the Egg Cream". Mr Beller's Neighborhood.
Wharton, Rachel. "The Return of The Egg Cream". Brooklyn Eats. Heritage Radio Network. Archived from the original on 14 January 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2011. (Radio episode)
Look up egg cream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Egg cream. 
Drink portal
Look up egg cream in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Egg cream. 
Category: Chocolate drinks