Although this egg cream contains neither cream nor eggs, the frothy milk, chocolate sauce, and seltzer specialty, which originated in New York with Fox’s U-bet chocolate syrup, is a summer respite for all ages.
The original egg cream, which originated in New York, is a simple, refreshing combination of milk, seltzer, and Fox’s u-bet chocolate flavor syrup. While this isn’t quite the classic egg cream of your childhood, it’s actually what we consider to be quite superlative—but only if you opt for chocolate syrup that’s actually “chocolate syrup” and not “chocolate flavor syrup.” (Mind you, it doesn’t have to be made from scratch. But it does have to be void of high-fructose corn syrup and any other scary multisyllabic ingredients.)–David Leite
How do I achieve the proper froth on an egg cream?
What’s also crucial to your egg cream experience is achieving that classic egg cream froth just like the ones from the soda fountain. We have recipe tester Carrie Shimozato and her husband to thank for the foolproof frothing approach in the recipe below. When they attempted the original recipe as found in the book, they failed to produce the longed-for frothy effect. Not wanting to disappoint his wife, Carrie’s husband tweaked the technique until she was satisfied. (Turns out the trick lies in ample stirring, not shaking. Take note, cocktail shakers.)
☞ Contents
Egg Cream
Ingredients
- 1/2 tablespoon Simple Syrup (made with 2 parts water and 1 part sugar), chilled
- 2 tablespoons store-bought chocolate syrup
- 1/3 cup whole milk chilled
- 3/4 cup seltzer chilled
Directions
- Chill a pint glass.
- Pour the simple syrup, chocolate sauce, and milk into the chilled pint glass. Stir vigorously.
- Add enough seltzer until the glass is full, pouring slowly so the egg cream doesn’t overflow when the soda foams up to the top of the glass. Slurp to your heart's content.
Show Nutrition
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Recipe Testers’ Reviews
I think we found a new drink to enjoy in the warmer months.
I’d never tried an egg cream, since I’d assumed from the name that I wouldn’t like it. Wrong! My daughter and I were both pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed this very much. We both love chocolate, and although neither of us is a big seltzer fan, in this drink it works.
I wasn’t able to find Fox’s U-Bet chocolate syrup the author says is used in New York egg creams, nor was I able to find Recchiuti’s Extra-Bitter Chocolate Sauce, which is suggested for the San Francisco version.
The only thing I found in my local grocery store that was the closest thing to chocolate sauce was in the ice cream toppings section, and it was Smucker’s Special Recipe Dark Chocolate topping.
The fabled egg cream. I’ve heard of it, figured it for something like a nog, yet never tried it. Looking at the paltry list of ingredients, none of which I am overly fond of when consumed alone, the allure lessened.
Yet this drink far exceeded my expectations. Think chocolate-flavored Italian soda—sorta like a milkshake without the accompanying guilt and bloat. I imagine you could play around with the simple syrup, perhaps infusing it with mint or a nutty extract for a more complex flavor
I don’t know that I’d agree with the contention that it’s a thirst quencher, but it certainly quenches that postprandial urge for something a little sweet and a little bubbly that can be made in a jiff. It’s the tastiest misnomer I’ve had in some time.
I remember my Dad and grandparents talking about this drink when I was little, so I was very curious to try this. It’s so easy and fun to make and, apparently, refreshing to drink. (I’m allergic to chocolate, so I had to depend on others’ opinions this time.) My tasters described it as a grown-up version of chocolate milk—only better.
The ingredients and glasses must be as cold as you can make them. By the time I made the last egg cream, things had started to warm up and the egg cream just wasn’t as good. I would recommend keeping the glasses in the freezer and pulling them out, 1 at a time, as you make the egg creams.
Also, don’t be temped to cheap out on the chocolate sauce. Buy a very good dark chocolate sauce. I don’t think the same effect could be had with milk chocolate syrup as the slight bitterness of the chocolate sauce is what makes this good. I used a simple syrup I had on hand. This is a fun drink to make for the kid in us all.
This easy peasy, recipe is as delicious as a Yoo-hoo. I made mine in a frosty stainless steel shaker. So simple and so wonderful! If you have an immersion blender, you may want to enlist it to get a really foamy head on this puppy!
When I first heard about an egg cream, I was immediately turned off by the idea because drinking something with eggs and cream on a hot summer day seemed unappetizing. Of course, once I realized what was actually in an egg cream, I was intrigued.
But I was still wary, because even the thought of milk mixed with seltzer seemed a little off to me, as I imagined a watered-down chocolate milk that was fizzy—and quite possibly for not good reasons.
However, it wasn’t a bad drink at all, and in fact, it was surprisingly good. I thought about describing it as a fizzy chocolate milk, but that doesn’t quite reflect the bright and appealing quality that the fizz brings to the chocolate milk.
It isn’t watered down. I think the addition of simple syrup is what helps. On a hot day, an egg cream would definitely be preferable to just chocolate milk.
The ingredients and amounts worked, and adding the seltzer last gave me that special soda shop frothy top that I longed for.
I think you can easily get away with making half or even a quarter of the simple syrup recipe, unless you anticipate making many of these egg creams or using it for other purposes. But note that it takes about 45 minutes for the simple syrup to cool down completely, so it might be best to make this at least an hour before you plan on serving the drinks or even the night before and keep the syrup in the fridge so everything remains ice cold.
Since I’m living in San Francisco, I had to try this egg cream recipe. I’m not a big fan of drinking chocolate, as usually it’s way too sweet for my taste. But this one was pretty good. Not too sweet, nice flavor (I used Peet’s chocolate syrup), and kinda light on the tongue. My kids liked it, too. We’ll make it again for sure.
Fizzy water, chocolate, some sweet syrup and a little dairy, and you have an egg cream whenever you want one. I used my soda maker for the fizzy water, added the rest of the ingredients, and had a wonderful treat. This will be great for satisfying the sweet tooth.
This egg cream recipe brought me back to my childhood in the Northeast. The combination of ingredients was right on with what I remember. I may have added additional chocolate in past versions, but this was good with the amount specified.
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
I agree with the notion of using Fox’s U-bet chocolate syrup. It is a very New York City thing. Though it comes in a variety of flavors, chocolate is traditional here. Just the same, a well stocked “candy store” (basically, back in the day, a news stand with a lunch counter, for you “non-New Yorkers” 🙂 ), could make, for instance, a vanilla egg cream.
I would skip the simple syrup, and amp up the amount of chocolate syrup, though nowhere near as much as suggested on the Fox’s U-bet bottle.
Fair, Steve. That’s the thing about classic recipes. You can either make them exactly true to tradition or tweak them to your current preferences as you deem fit. We present the classic, but we love when folks adapt to suit their likes.
We New Yorkers have VERY strong opinions about some things (“Wait a minute”, Renee said, “Only SOME things?”.) 🙂
Seriously, the syrups that are classically used in this drink are very sweet to begin with, and the suggested homemade syrup also seems pretty sweet. That is why I questioned the need for the simple syrup. Regardless, OF COURSE you make it to suit your taste!
Do try it with the vanilla syrup or coffee, if chocolate is not your thing. They are much less commonly made (almost unheard of, these days), but they are out there.
Fox’s syrups are kosher, and they even make “kosher for Passover” chocolate syrup. The hard core types stock up on that, because it is made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup. (And no, I don’t work for the company.)
Hah! Being a former New Yorker, I get it. And I have found that my sweet tooth is much more modest than in past days. So were I to make this again, I’d do the same as you, and I suspect others will as well, so I do appreciate you sorta giving us all permission (or at least a reminder) to do so.
There’s no crying in baseball. And there’s no simple syrup in egg creams. Stop trying to fix what ain’t broke. Fuhgeddabowdit. Sheesh! (Said the girl who grew up in the Bronx, whose mother grew up in the Bronx, and whose grandmother had a candy store in the Bronx.) U-Betcha.
🙂
So tell me, BXGRL, how do you really feel about simple syrup in egg creams?!
I have yet to taste an egg cream. As a child whenever I accompanied my father to a Jewish deli he would order an egg cream. He would never let us taste it. After all he would say, you don’t want to drink a raw egg do you? Well, we didn’t. Yes, he knew what he was telling us. I think he just didn’t want to order a round for the table!
So you never wanted to grow up big and strong after seeing Rocky Balboa do it? By that, I mean drink all those raw eggs. I must have been the only one, drinking those raw eggs in my 20s.
The classic New York egg cream has neither eggs nor cream, only milk, syrup (usually chocolate, but not exclusively) and seltzer. NOTHING ELSE! I have no idea how this concoction was invented, or how it got that name, but that’s the fact, Jack (er,… Mikey)! 😁😁
Absolutely. Thanks, Steve.
It’s definitely not for everyone, Mikey!
Abbe, I think you may have hit the nail on the head…!
I feel that there are so many ingredients in recipes that can be switched around and enjoyed. HOWEVER, when it comes to a true egg cream the only way to do it is the original (the right way) way and that is using Fox’s U-Bet which can be found in just about every grocery store i have ever been to or checked out on their web site for retail locations or even ordered thru their own web site.
Faleen, thanks for that!