People who grew up in Brooklyn can still savor the taste of their first Egg Cream. They remember sitting on a stool at their neighborhood candy store and sipping the mixture of milk or cream, chocolate syrup, and seltzer water.

Brooklynites also know that there is actually no egg in an Egg Cream. Why? No one really knows.

Brooklyn Beginnings

According to legend, the Egg Cream was invented in 1890 by Louis Auster, a candy store owner in Brooklyn.

Some theorists maintain that Auster's original drink originally contained eggs, but that he later changed the formula and eliminated the eggs.

Still other people surmise that Auster's drink never contained eggs, but that Auster found a way to replicate the taste of more expensive, popular drinks of the time that did contain eggs, and used the name Egg Cream as a marketing ploy.

We will probably never learn the complete truth about the origins of an Egg Cream, but we do know that a properly made drink is a wonder to behold.

In the past, it was only possible to get an Egg Cream through candy store or restaurant soda fountains. This was because it wasn't possible to produce bottled versions of the drink; the cream, chocolate, and soda often separated and the drink went bad after only a few days, and pasteurization efforts ruined the taste.

But now you can make a delicious drink at home.

How to Make an Egg Cream

While you might not be able to fully create that wonderful candy store experience, the following recipe is close enough, and will definitely delight your taste buds:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 to 4 tablespoonfuls of excellent chocolate syrup - (Fox's U-Bet Chocolate Syrup is the best there is)
• 3/4 cup (or more) of seltzer water

Now, here's what makes it a real Egg Cream

1. Make sure to properly chill all ingredients in your refrigerator.
2. Add the chocolate syrup to the bottom of a soda glass.*
3. Slowly pour in milk on top of the chocolate.
4. Pour the seltzer water right down the center of the glass. Make sure it results in thick, white foam. Don't let it foam over the top of the glass. (A seltzer bottle will provide you with the most satisfactory foam.)

*To add the chocolate syrup to the bottom of your glass without messing up the foamy head, drop the thick syrup with a long-handled spoon down the inside of the glass. Then, gently mix it with the milk.

Drink immediately. And make sure you don't use a straw. If you drink through a straw, you won't experience the combined taste sensation of the chocolate drink and foam on top, and you'll miss the best part of an Egg Cream.