Traditional Eggnog

Traditional Eggnog

 

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

I don’t remember exactly how old I was the first time I tasted store-bought eggnog, but I know I was very young.

My mom brought some home from a grocery store a few weeks before Christmas one year. I was apprehensive to drink something with “egg” in the name, but my mom kept saying it was delicious. So…I had one tiny sip…then another bigger sip…and then a full swig. I had fallen in love.

I grew up in a household with four sisters and was fortunate just a couple of us liked eggnog. I’m not normally a selfish sort, but I was with eggnog and guzzled down more than my fair share anytime it was in the house. I also know “someone” in my family would hide the quart of eggnog behind the huge gallons of milk so it couldn’t be seen.

I do remember exactly the first time I tasted homemade Traditional Eggnog. It was just three weeks ago, and I fell even more deeply in love.

I immediately went into a trance – a trance where I envisioned myself playing the The Minister’s Cat, a Victorian game, while frolicking around the parlor at Scrooge’s nephew’s Christmas Eve party, in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smoooooth. I’ll never understand why I waited until middle age to make it myself.

Since I had never made homemade Traditional Eggnog before the age of sixty-three, I did my homework and researched recipe after recipe.

Eventually, I decided two of my favorite, and most knowledgeable, foodie gurus, Alton Brown of Food Network and J.Kenji López-Alt of Serious Eats, had the best info (and recipes) on the topic.

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

The ultimate decision was whether, or not, to cook the egg mixture. I had to find out if raw eggs were safe to drink, so I did a great deal of research on the topic. HERE and HERE are the best answers to that question. I encourage you to research for yourself, but what I decided is I’ll use pasteurized eggs anytime I make uncooked eggnog.

I also needed to know which type of eggnog tasted best. I made eggnog with cooked eggs and Traditional Eggnog with uncooked eggs, then I conducted a taste test of both eggnogs. The results are as follows:

2-0, in favor of the non-cooked version. (I wanted more people to sample, but only my son and I were available at taste-testing time.)

And, by the way, the “2” were strong votes from two store-bought-eggnog-loving people. The cooked version of eggnog tasted much thicker, sweeter and similar to most store-bought varieties. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t nearly as good as the uncooked version.

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

I continued to study, taste, cook and ponder. Eventually, I was able to glean all I could and drank myself to my favorite version – my own.

Alton’s recipe was a tad sweet and J. Kenji’s recipe was a tad dangerous (especially if one had the need to stand up straight after imbibing).

Finally, I needed to decide the best amount of time to age Traditional Eggnog before drinking.

You see, the claim is, the longer eggnog ages in the fridge, up to a year, the mellower it gets. J.Kenji López-Alt’s article explaining his research proved that isn’t correct. In truth, at 3 weeks, eggnog is at its peak, and after that, more booziness comes to the forefront. In my own testing, the eggnog was very good when made – even better the next day and terrific at 3 weeks.

I couldn’t test it after that simply because I had none leftover. One thing for certain…NEVER, ever throw away leftover Traditional Eggnog. It will keep, safely, at least a year in an airtight, glass container. I’m sure you can drink the leftovers within a year.

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

So, (c)heres to you. I hope you will get into Traditional Eggnog this year and many years to come.

Enjoy!

*By the way, I know star anise isn’t used in eggnog. I used it for photographic beauty, and isn’t it gorgeous!?

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

While you are visiting, please check out My Famous Chex Party Mix and Pumpkin Pie Hot Chata

Thanks again to Becky Gall Hardin for the terrific photos.  Please visit The Cookie Rookie – she has a ton of delicious (and gorgeous) holiday recipes, such as her Toasted S’more Martini.

Recipe adapted from Alton Brown’s Food Network Eggnog recipe.

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated
4.66 from 20 votes
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Traditional Eggnog

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near.
Course drink
Prep Time 15 minutes
Total Time 15 minutes
Servings 6
Author Susie Gall

Ingredients

  • 4 large eggs yolks & whites separated
  • ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon, white granulated sugar, (Use ultrafine sugar, if possible, it dissolves more quickly.)
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • ¼ cup brandy or bourbon *See Note
  • ¼ cup dark rum *See Note
  • ½ teaspoon plus more for garnishing, freshly ground nutmeg
  • ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

  1. In the clean, dry bowl of a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. With the mixer still running, slowly add 1 tablespoon sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Gently pour the egg whites into a different bowl and set aside.
  2. In the same mixing bowl used for the egg whites (no need to clean the bowl first), place the egg yolks and ¼ cup sugar. Beat the mixture until the sugar completely dissolves and the yolks lighten in color. Add the milk, cream, liquor, nutmeg and salt. Beat on LOW until well combined, about 1 minute.
  3. With the mixer on FOLD, add the beaten egg whites. Place in an airtight, glass container and chill several hours, overnight or even up to 1 year. Research has proven Traditional Eggnog is best served aged 1-3 weeks.

  4. When ready to serve, fill a cocktail glass 2/3rd full, grate a little fresh nutmeg on top and serve.  

  5. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Traditional Eggnog is made with liquor, but it is still delicious without liquor. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract and an additional 1/2 cup milk or cream if not adding liquor.

Traditional Eggnog is frothy, the flavors and spices perfectly balanced, and it’s smooth with no aftertaste. One sip and you know Christmas is near. Simply Sated

 

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    Comments

    Christina
    I've never made homemade eggnog before but I've always wanted to give it a whirl. Your food photography looks so dang adorable (and tasty) I HAVE to give this recipe a try!
    Dorothy Aguilar
    I'd like to get your recipe blog by email

    5 stars

      Susie Gall
      Thank you, Dorothy. I'm working on getting a different email system in place. Please check back in a week to see if an email subscription service is in place. I apologize and hope to have this issue resolved shortly.
    pictaram
    Thank you for sharing the recipe and all the research! It's amazing!! I will definitely try this traditional eggnog!

    5 stars

    G
    The recipe ingredients lists eggs, twice. That's confusing. How many egg whites and how many yolks should i use?
      Susie Gall
      Hello Gavin and thank you for pointing out my error. The recipe card has been corrected and the recipe calls for 4 eggs. Have a great day and thanks again.
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