Very few things say Christmas like Egg Nog.
We grew up with eggnog, the kind you buy in a carton, and every Christmas holiday we kids drank up as much of it as we could.
It’s funny though how our taste buds change into adulthood and suddenly we crave more refined things. Eggnog from the grocery store is no exception!
Real eggnog is nothing like it.
You don’t have to cut it with milk just to get it down the hatch.
It’s not so sweet you get the sugar sweats.
It’s light and frothy and yolky in the way custard is.
It’s fresh-tasting and boozy (if you choose).
I’ve been wanting to make this for awhile.
My daughter says I won’t ever buy the stuff again and heck why would I with all these farm-fresh eggs around here!
If you need a source of Farm-Fresh Eggs, order yours on-line at our Virtual Farm Market HERE
So, here we are, days before Covid Christmas, and I just recieved requests from a dozen hometown girlfriends during a zoom call for the recipe.
I have adapted this recipe from our Cooks Illustrated cooking ’Bible’ - Really the most comprehensive literature on cooking that I own.
Now between the heavy cream, raw eggs and alcohol, its easy to see how home-made eggnog can go wrong. But when done right -its a real winner!
Raw Eggs! eeewwww you say. I’ll tell you, I don’t hesitate to eat a raw egg in a smoothie but I get it if you’re a little apprehensive. This cooked version is custardy, rich and sweet with a hint of salt to improve flavour and puts aside your worries about un-cooked eggs.
You can omit the alcohol to create a DD and kid friendly drink but decrease the cream to a 1/4 cup to keep the right consistency.
Ingredients
6 large farm-fresh eggs + 2 golden yolks
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup brandy, bourbon, or dark rum
1 tbsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg +extra for garnish
1/2 cup heavy cream
Directions
1. Whisk eggs, egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Stir in milk, 1/2 cup at a time, blending well after each addition. Heat slowly over lowest heat possible, stirring constantly until custard reaches 160 degrees, thickens, and coats the back of a spoon (25-30min).
2. Pour custard through a fine mesh strainer into a large bowl, stir in brandy, vanilla and nutmeg.
3. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours or up to 3 days.
4. Just before serving, whip cream in a medium bowl to very soft peaks and gently fold into custard mixture until incorporated. Serve in a chilled punch bowl or cups and garnish with nutmeg.
Off chance you have eggnog left over? Unlikely but guess what?
You can Bake with Eggnog!
Yup! That’s right
Homemade eggnog might have a little bit of a different thickness than store bought milk or store bought eggnog, so a recipe might need a little tweaking. But in general, you can often replace milk with eggnog in baked goods. We’ve also found you can reduce the sugar slightly since eggnog is already sweetened.
Try making cheesecake, cinnamon rolls, pancakes, muffins or even coffee cake or pumpkin pie. The possibilities are endless!
I would love to know how you used your Homemade Holiday Nog! Shoot me an e-mail HERE