Shalom Friends!
While I was in Israel, a pretty amazing thing happened. My Facebook fan page reached 10,000 fans. Wow!! I was so busy doing food research and filming that I didn’t even have a chance to acknowledge this milestone. So, I’m acknowledging it now!
I can hardly believe how quickly this project has grown, and it is all thanks to YOU, the food lovers who read my blog every week. I started blogging on January 1, 2010. In only 8 months, we’ve created an awesome community of people who love Jewish food. I have many exciting plans for the future, and it’s great to know so many amazing people are along for the ride!
So I was thinking we should do something to celebrate… and of course, my mind wanders to deli food. So, I decided to share with you my simple and delicious recipe/instructions for a deli-style Chocolate Egg Cream. It’s the easiest thing in the world to make, and it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face (unless you don’t like chocolate—or you’re lactose intolerant). Try it. You’ll love it. It’s perfect for a hot summer evening. If you’re feeling naughty, add a splash of kahlua! 🙂
The chocolate egg cream is a tasty drink that’s been around since the 1920’s. Popular in New York’s deli scene, it contains neither egg nor cream. Nobody’s totally sure where the name came from, though there are many theories.
While a traditional egg cream is made with a high-pressure seltzer “siphon” bottle, most of us don’t have those readily available at home. I’m including instructions for those who have siphon bottles as well as those who don’t. If you don’t have a siphon bottle, you’ll have to improvise to get that lovely foamy white cap on top of your egg cream, and it won’t taste quite the same as a true deli-style egg cream… but it will come close!
As far as chocolate syrup goes, Fox’s U-Bet brand is traditional and works best flavor-wise… but if you have Hershey’s on hand, it will do in a pinch. You can also use vanilla syrup for a Manhattan style egg cream, the process is the same. Enjoy!
Thank you all so much for being a part of this project. If you’re enjoying the blogs and recipes, please click “Share” on my fan page and let your friends know about ToriAvey.com—help spread the word! Let’s keep this community growing and thriving.
xoxo Tori
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Chocolate Egg Cream
Ingredients
- Whole milk
- Soda siphon with CO2 cartridge and chilled water OR bottled seltzer water
- Chocolate syrup
Instructions
Instructions for Egg Cream Without Siphon Bottle
- Put a long-handled metal spoon into a tall drinking glass. Fill the glass a little less than 1/4 with ice cold whole milk.
- Pour plain seltzer SLOWLY into the milk, leaving about 1 inch at the top of the glass. If you've done this right, you should already see a nice creamy foam developing on top of the drink.
- Use the long-handled metal spoon to stir and quickly blend the chocolate with the milk and seltzer, stirring at the bottom of the glass, doing your best not to disturb the foam at the top of the glass. Stir till the chocolate is well blended into the drink. After stirring, top the drink off with a little more seltzer till the foam rises to the top of the glass, almost overflowing.
- And there you have it-- a chocolate egg cream with a beautiful white cap on top! Don't worry if you don't get it right the first time, it takes a little practice to make it perfectly.
Instructions for Egg Cream With Siphon Bottle
- Fill your siphon bottle with ice-cold water, making sure you have a fresh CO2 cartridge installed.
- Put a long-handled metal spoon into a tall drinking glass. Fill the glass a little less than 1/4 with ice cold whole milk.
- Squirt your seltzer water into the glass in a thin stream with as much pressure as possible. Fill till the foam is about 1 inch below the glass rim. If done correctly, a creamy white foam cap should develop. If not, try again-- it takes practice!
- Pour chocolate syrup in a thin stream through the center of the foam until the foam rises just above the rim of the glass.
- Use the long-handled metal spoon to stir and quickly blend the chocolate with the milk and seltzer, stirring at the bottom of the glass, doing your best not to disturb the foam at the top of the glass. Stir till the chocolate is well blended into the drink. Remove the spoon. Enjoy!
- Don't use a straw. A foamy mustache is half the fun. 🙂
Nutrition
I beg to differ. My grandparents had what was called a “candy store” with a diminutive soda fountain on First Ave and 53rd which we would visit on trips back to NYC in the 1950s and into the 60s.
They put a couple of squirts of chocolate syrup into the glass, poured in some milk, used the soda fountain seltzer thing which forcefully filled the glass with seltzer, gave a stir or two with a long handled spoon.
It was a treat when we would visit and I could have all I wanted!
Two cent plain was simply a glass of seltzer. For a couple of cents more you could get flavoring added.
Pour the seltzer or squirt the seltzer over the back of the spoon – eases the suds, but still gives a foamy head.
My mother used to take me to the candy store, yes they used to exist, on the corner down from our apartment in the Bronx when I was a little girl. The egg creams were the best. A wonderful tradition.
An Israeli friend recently recommended your site and i am enjoying it so much! I grew up in both Israel and New Jersey and loved Egg Creams. My husband also grew up in NY and loved them. Sadly, years ago he became allergic/intolerant of dairy. Now, as a special treat for American holidays like Memorial Day or July 4, i use almond milk to make them for him. They come out foamy at the top and delicious all the way through! (I still use milk, and chill the glasses beforehand as my tzadee used to do.)
Thanks ~ you answered the question I had too. Coconut or hemp milk may also work well. Will try some experiments as we’ve milk sensitivities.
I grew up in Queens, New York and we called this “2 cents plain”. Anyone else know it by this name?
Back in the day, a soda from the soda fountain – which was made from seltzer and the syrup of your choice – cost 5 cents. If you were feeling financially strapped, you might request, “Gimmee for 2 cents plain;” a glass of plain seltzer, sans syrup. This is how seltzer came to be called “Two cents plain.”
Egg creams, the ultimate treat, were a dime!
two cents plain is seltzer not an egg cream
I’ve just made this and I dunno how I lived without it! xxx
I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU MAKE HAVE MADE LOT OF RESPE DO YOU GIVE CLASS IN SAN DIEGO ANYWERE BUY THERE CAFE U TALK ABOUT I OLNY 1 PLACE IN EL CAJON WERE TACE OF GREEK THE OWNER JOHN VERY I TOLD ABOUT SITE HE LOVE IT Y SO DO I
I’ve always put the syrup in the botoom of the cup, then the milk, then the seltzer, stirring as fast as I can. I guess maybe adding the chocolate last is better. I’ll have to try it – thanks…
Some remember this as a “Chocolate Phosphate”. That’s what it was called in Ohio.
So glad to see your comment. I grew up in Northern Indiana. And we had phosphates at our soda fountain! My favorite was chocolate!
Just thought that I would mention that an alternative to stirring with a spoon could be a capuchino ‘frothier’ if you happen to have one. (we have a small hand-held one at our house since my brother works at a coffee shop and brought one down while visiting) and you’d have an easy time stirring without moving the foam as a matter of fact it might just make even more foam 🙂 anyhow just thought I’d throw that out there! This looks delicious and i’ve never even heard of this before but it looks so simple and I really can’t wait to try one!
Aren’t egg creams the best?? Beth that’s a great tip, thanks! Jojo that sounds like a great and healthy alternative. Gilly, glad you enjoyed your first egg cream! Jo Anne, I’ve never tried pouring it over the spoon– will do that next time to see if it produces more “foam.” 🙂
Ellen, you can use lowfat milk, but I think skin will be too watery. I really recommend using whole milk if possible– you only need a little bit in the glass, and the flavor is a lot better. A non-dairy creamer might work, too, or as Jojo suggests a “smidge” of fat-free half-and-half… I haven’t tried that before, but it just might work. Good luck!
Growing up I had a Jewish neighbor who watched us after school some afternoons, she wouuld take us and her son to the deli every so often and buy us an egg cream. I remember thinking it was strange that there was no egg in it. But I did love the taste.
tried this over the weekend, sooooo yummy! the video of Julia Child totally made me “verklempt.” thank you Shiksa! <3
This is so simple yet so delicious! Thanks for sharing!!
Reminds me of the candy store on Kingsbridge Road in the Bronx! Loved the egg creams. They would take a spoon and pour the seltzer over the spoon to make the fizz. Works well!
Me tooI lived on Morris ave and kings bridge road about 1973…
I would like to try this can i use skim milk instead?
This brings back suck wonderful memories! My father used to take us every Sunday morning to the old 2nd Avenue Deli, back when it was really on 2nd Avenue, for matzo ball soup, pastrami sandwich and an egg cream. Reminds me of childhood. Thank you for your blog.
how have I never heard of this drink before?? looks so yummy!
I have a fabulous very low cal cheat that is almost as good as the real thing. Canfield’s Diet Chocolate Fudge Soda (google it for where to buy) and just a smidge (a very Jewish measurement) of fat-free half and half. You won’t believe how good it is!
You are so right Fox’s ubet syrup is the answer they used to deliver to the candy stores. Other syrups aren’t the same.
If people want the seltzer you can buy the bottles and carbon dioxide capsules at better houseware stores.