I am going to go out there and state that you should make this cocktail because it’s better than eggnog. Here are five definitive reasons why I feel that way:

1. The recipe as it was originally written calls for a mix of hard cider, milk, cream, and nutmeg, sweetened with a little sugar. Syllabub tastes like a cross between an apple cream pie and eggnog. However, you can make one with any alcohol – many people use wine with some lemon or a combination of wine and brandy. You have options, while you don’t really have any when you make eggnog.
2. There are no eggs. While some recipes do call for eggs, they are by no means a requirement. Not having to deal with eggs while still achieving a frothy, boozy drink is a huge win.
3. Alexander Hamilton would most likely have have been drinking it. (See the whole story by my contributor, Jess Touchette, below.) If you are a musical and/or history buff or are serving one, this drink is a must!
4. The drink was traditionally served in its own special type of glassware. The glasses were wide at the top to hold the cream and narrower at the bottom (see Food History Jottings for a nice example). You can find the glassware at antique shops and then give the recipe and a couple of glasses as a totally unique holiday gift. The glasses that we used in the photos aren’t quite right, but they work. Feel free to get a little creative.
5. Syllabub is simply a fun word to say. (True, nog is a fun word to say, too, but it’s overplayed.)

Now that you fully comprehend how much I love this drink, let’s move on to special instructions and some information about the drink’s history (courtesy of contributor Jess Touchette).

In Jess Touchette’s second contributor post, she shares the fascinating history of frosting and layer cakes. Read on…

In a recent post about 17th-century “biscuit bread,” I traced the centuries-long evolution of “cake” from sweetened, enriched bread to the light and airy confection that we know and love today. There, I noted that the increased availability (and affordability) of refined flour, refined sugar, and commercial leaveners like baking powder enabled 19th-century bakers to produce true, modern cake for the first time. Yet our story doesn’t end there, for two more mile-markers on the road to cake as we now know it remained.

My newest contributor is Jess Touchette – she’s a librarian and she’ll be sharing well-researched stories of the desserts that you know and love.  I hope you enjoy her first contribution.

This is a blog for cupcake lovers, so I’m guessing that you (like me) have tried your share of Stef’s more than 200 cupcake recipes. But have you ever wondered how the full-sized model of those fluffy little bites of perfection (a.k.a., cake) came to be?