Ah Eggnog that festive beverage that you either love, hate or have never tried. Essentially a super creamy, egg yolk, spicy festive beverage with the option of alcohol added – will different budget ingredients matter though?
How to make eggnog – with or without egg whites / alcohol
Alright first up get an electric whisk and beat together the sugar and egg yolks for a few minutes until lighter in colour. Leave to one side for the moment.
In a saucepan add the milk and cinnamon, warm up on a low heat until it steams, stirring often, do not boil it, just get it nice and hot.
Slowly pour the hot milk mixture in small batches into the egg mixture whisking as you go a little at a time to temper the eggs – don’t just dump it all in or it will cook the eggs. Whisk through each step until it’s all added, do it in 8-10 pours.
Return the pan to the heat and warm the mixture back up to a heat of 160f, this is not a boiling temperature but will be warm. The mixture will also coat the back of a spoon if that helps and be thickened. Remove from the heat, stir in the cream, then allow to cool to room temperature and pour through a sieve to discard any lumps. Place in the fridge to chill and firm up for at least an hour.
After the hour, stir in other flavour enhancers such as the vanilla, rum and nutmeg. Serve like that cold in glasses!
If you want to top it with the egg whites (make sure you are using pasteurised eggs!) whisk the eggs with a clean electric whisk to obtain soft peaks, add in a little extra sugar (say a tbsp) and some cinnamon and whisk through until stiff peaks are achieved, serve on top of the eggnog mugs or fold it into the eggnog itself.