Aged Eggnog Recipe
· 12 Egg Yolks
· 1 Cup Sugar
· 1 Teaspoon Freshly Grated Nutmeg
· 1/2 Teaspoon Freshly Grated Cinnamon
· 1/2 Teaspoon Allspice
· 1 Teaspoon Vanilla Paste
· 1 1/2 Cup Bourbon
· 1 Cup Aged Rum
· 1 Cup Cognac
· 1 Pint Whole Milk
· 1 Pint Heavy Cream
· 1 Pint Light Cream
1. Beat egg yolks together until smooth.
2. Add sugar and mix until incorporated
3. Add spices and mix until incorporated
4. Add liquor and mix until incorporated
5. Add dairy and mix until incorporated
6. Ladle into vessels for ageing (I use mason jars)
7. Place in back of fridge and wait at least 3 weeks before tasting
Hardest recipe ever, I know, but this has to be done. Merry Christmas in July everybody! Today we’re experimenting with aged eggnog, which works as long as the alcohol in question you’re using is of a high enough proof to kill anything that might be lurking in the eggs. This, coincidentally, is not your childhood’s sweet and creamy drink.
That sounds disgusting out of context but bear with me.
Supermarket eggnog was always a severe disappointment to me because of how sickly sweet it is and how most brands have a weird artificial taste to them as a result of who knows what goes into them. I never really enjoyed it growing up and could hardly stomach the stuff. As I developed more of a cooking repertoire, I realized that, like most things, eggnog has to have a not store-version that could be made. Behold, there are actually two.
The first is more of a cooked custard which is alcohol-optional because the heat from the cooking process both thickens and sterilizes the product. That’s all well and good but come on, who are we fooling? At our age sometimes the only good thing about Christmas is the fact we can drink a tad bit more without being judged as heavily for it. Should I bring up the Christmas of 2018? No, I won’t because I still have trouble even looking at a bottle of Laphroaig. Is the muscadine wine more to blame? Probably but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.
Right, eggnog. So, the other way of going about making your own eggnog is the style and version listed above, a bit more of a drinker-geek method of making it. The idea here is that by using higher proof spirits you can sterilize the drink and make it, well, more fun for those who can have it while also saving you the trouble of cooking the finished product which can do weird things to both the flavor and texture. This is also keeping more in line with eggnog’s traditional creation, I think. The other idea at play is that the longer this eggnog sits the more the spiritous nature of the liquors involved will mellow into the sugar, spices, and dairy over the months of ageing and give you a more harmonious product by the time you’re ready to face your in-laws or whatever holiday stereotype drives you to reach for something to ease the pounding of your head, or at the very least compartmentalize it into the pounding of your head the following morning.
My favorite holiday, coincidentally, is Halloween.
The other key here, which might come to the horror of some of you, is that I try to keep this eggnog rather high-quality, in keeping in line with Justin’s first rule of life:
Don’t drink shit.
In this case the bourbon I used was Maker’s Mark, the rum was Kirk and Sweeney’s 12, and the cognac was Remy Martin 1738. This is definitely a special occasion eggnog that I really only share with people who’ll appreciate it. Likewise, I highly recommend the use of fresh nutmeg especially, which is really the only necessary spice for eggnog and is, as a rule, always better when freshly grated. I enjoy the added spice of the cinnamon and allspice personally, and vanilla in something which so many oaked spirits and rich dairy is never a bad option. I feel it rounds the recipe out some.
The recipe above makes about five and a half pints of nog. When you consider the sheer amount of alcohol going into it, I imagine this is more than enough, but feel free to use this as a base for whatever you feel like playing with. Just remember to keep the booze up and use fresh nutmeg, however you nog your eggs.
Alternatively, I did a comparative tasting of different eggnog and bourbon brands (the results of which I’ll elucidate and analyze in due time).
To make it brief: Hood Eggnog and Maker’s Mark Bourbon. Not great, but tasty in a ‘you know this is bad for you’ way.
The above recipe is delicious in a ‘you know this is good for you soul’ kind of way.
You decide.
I should also mention the inherent risks of consuming a product with both a great deal of booze and raw eggs. This is a make and drink at your own risk kind of recipe. Please nog responsibly.