As a child I carpooled to school with a very unusual girl named Danielle. A quarter century later, Danielle remains one of the most intriguing people I have ever met. She has the brain of an engineer, the heart of an experimental artist, the spirit of an old-timey woodsman, and the energy of a cartoon bunny. Several years ago for Christmas — right before she moved to Portland to explore her passion for pack goats — she gifted me a small jar of her homemade eggnog. I was instructed to keep it in my fridge and take small sips of it over the course of the next year.
Eggnog, which is a concoction of eggs, dairy, sugar, and alcohol, did not strike me as something that would age well. Danielle assured me that the alcohol content was high enough to act as a preservative for the more susceptible-to-spoilage dairy and eggs. And she was right. I couldn’t make the nog last a whole year because I enjoyed it too much, treating myself to little tipples well into springtime.
I’ve been missing that creamy, comforting drink, so I decided to make my own. I checked in with internet food experts to make sure I wouldn’t poison myself, and learned that 20 percent of the total volume is the amount of alcohol needed to keep the eggnog safe. I also learned from Google that two or three weeks ageing in the fridge produces peak nog. I riffed off recipes from Kenji Lopez-Alt, Michael Ruhlman, and Alton Brown (the latter two of which had frat party-levels of alcohol) to create this spiced eggnog. Make a batch soon to enjoy over the holidays and beyond!
Makes:
2 quartsEquipment
- stand mixer or handheld electric mixer
Ingredients
- 8 eggs (very fresh or pasteurized. No old eggs.)
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 4 cups whole milk
- 1 cup dark rum
- 2/3 cup bourbon
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Step-by-step
- Separate egg yolks. Save whites for another use. (They freeze well.)
- Combine egg yolks, sugar, salt, and spices and mix with whisk attachment on medium speed for about a minute, until creamy.
- Add remaining ingredients and mix on low for another minute or two, until well-combined.
- Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a year!