Kitchen Churn

Q:On one of your TV series, you showed something called a “syllabub churn.” My parents used to make a drink called syllabub, but I can’t remember what the drink was or how it was made. Can you help? And where could I find a syllabub churn?

A:Syllabub was a traditional, frothy British dessert made by mixing whipped cream, whipped egg whites, lemon juice and zest, sugar, nutmeg and either wine or rum. It was popular in England from the 16th through the 19th centuries and became popular in the southern United States during the 19th century. The tin churn we showed on our TV series was an antique “whip churn” that dated from the second half of the 19th century. U.S. patents for this type of churn, often called a syllabub churn, were granted starting in the 1860s. The open-ended cylindrical churn has a plunger with a single or double perforated disk. Antique syllabub churns sell today for about $50 to $75. You can find them at flea markets and antique shows.