Best Eggnog
TIME/SERVINGS
Total: 10 mins, plus 3 weeks for aging
Active: 10 mins
Makes: About 1 gallon
By Jonathan Hunt
At an expat holiday party in Shanghai in the 1920s, my grandfather tasted the finest eggnog he had ever had. It took him seven years to wheedle the recipe out of the host. Once he got it, he gave an annual party on the Sunday evening following Thanksgiving to make the nog.
CHOW note: Unlike most eggnog recipes, this one calls for aging the eggnog for at least 3 weeks prior to consumption (or up to a year, says CHOW contributor Jonathan Hunt), which allows the flavors to meld. At CHOW, we aged the eggnog in the refrigerator in a clean 1-gallon jug, and it worked just fine.
What to buy: The eggnog makes a great gift if you decide to bottle it. You can even get some customized labels to impress your friends.
Game plan: It’s good to give the eggnog a full 3 weeks of aging, but you can drink it right away; however, the flavor will be less rounded.
Related story: Is it safe to use raw eggs in eggnog?
Related recipes:
- Eggnog French Toast
- Eggnog Cheesecake
For the eggnog:
- 12 large eggs
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 quart (4 cups) whole milk
- 1 liter (about 4 cups) bourbon, such as Jim Beam
- 1/2 cup Myers’s dark rum
- 1/2 to 1 cup good Cognac or other brandy
- Pinch kosher salt
- 1 whole nutmeg
To serve (optional):
- 10 egg whites
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- Separate egg yolks and whites. (Reserve egg whites for another use, such as Egg-White Frittata with Shrimp, Tomato, and Spinach.) Combine yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl and whisk until well blended and creamy.
- Add cream, milk, bourbon, rum, Cognac (use the good stuff), and salt, then stir.
- Bottle it right away and refrigerate it until it’s ready. (An old liquor bottle works great, as do 22-ounce bail-top bottles, available in brewing supply stores. My grandfather keeps the eggnog in the garage for 3 weeks, stirring occasionally, then bottles it—but aging in the garage is not recommended because the temperature can fluctuate.)
- It’s traditional to wrap the bottle in aluminum foil, shiny side out, together with a fresh nut of nutmeg tucked into the foil for grating later. Keep refrigerated for at least 3 weeks, or up to a year if you can.
To serve (optional):
- I serve aged eggnog on the rocks with some freshly grated nutmeg on top. If you want to serve the eggnog in the traditional way, pour it into a punch bowl. In separate bowls, whip 10 egg whites and 1 1/2 cups heavy cream to soft peaks and fold them into the eggnog. Serve in punch cups, garnished with freshly grated nutmeg.
Note: If you decide to bottle the eggnog, follow the step-by-step guide we created for our feature Make Your Own Soda Pop. Be sure, however, to refrigerate the bottles right away. Unlike the soda recipes, eggnog does not ferment (so there’s no danger of explosion); it just ages under refrigeration. The actual bottling process is the same, though.
Photographs by Jen Siska
COMMENTS | ADD YOUR OWN
I made this ab 2 wks ago & its been aging in the 'fridge. I tried a little yesterday, & it was good, but surprisingly "boozy" tasting. I will add the option egg whites & the cream when serving. Oh, & the fresh grated nutmeg is a must! Not too much nutmeg or you get a bitterness which ruins it!
OK, after drinking a 1/2 liter of this.....my notes. I added the extra egg whites and cream as suggested for serving. And topped w/grated nutmeg. And I used half the bourbon noted. It was very, very good. Rich, creamy, boozy, but not too much. My sister really liked it too. I recommend it. I have another 1 liter bottle in the 'fridge to age until next year. Can't wait to try it!
One more thing. I am keeping a 1 liter bottle of it in my beer fridge till next Xmas. We'll see how it is after a year.
Be sure to give us an update next year, doug!
I will!!!!
What keeps the eggnog from going bad when aging?
Sophia C., I think all the alcohol and the 'fridge temps. However, I know, somewhere tied into to this article there is a more technical explanation. Regardless, I will be sampling it come Thanksgiving in very small amounts, waiting for nasty side effects to occur, before going whole hog on it.
The massive amounts of alcohol make it virtually rot-proof.
So excited to try this!
Made a batch for the holidays yesterday can't (will) wait!
dc
Question – I made this recipe with organic eggs and RAW organic milk. When I mixed it up today, it has lots of little coagulated bits. So, will I be able to re-emulsify those bits? Or am I out of luck and the proud owner of chunky eggnog? Blender?
HELP!
Lauren
There's nothing in here about sterilizing the bottles - is that due to the booziness of the nog? I'm planning to try this next week, but would prefer not to poison myself or others. Anyone know if I should treat the bottles before filling?
Hot soapy water. Rinse well. Run them thru the hot cycle of your dish washer, or you could just boil them in for 10 minutes.
If you follow the link in the article about bottling, you'll see that there is serious sterilization involving boiling water and bleach solution. I would be very leery of drinking anything that hasn't been processed using all the steps. And, the recipe is intriguing!
I was just served this "nog" at a holiday party whose host had aged it for 1 year in the empty Maker's Mark bottle. While a couple of us were tentative at first, the amount of great alcohol that was used had perfectly preserved this very tasty holiday libation. Yum!
I've done the recipe and was wondering how it was supposed to look. It's separated in two layers in the jug... a brownish and a cream-colored layer. Does this sound right or did I denature the proteins again? any help is appreciated...
Sampled at week 6 did smooth out but did smell very strong. At week 8 even the smell did smooth out too very good stuff
dc
Mine did/does not separate
MateoinJapan: Just shake it up!
I've made the recipe, and it was a huge hit with our holiday guests. We served it straight without the optional cream or egg whites, and I received several compliments that it was not as "thick" or "clingy" as store-bought egg-nogg.
I just had the nog that I had made a in Nov '06. It was very good. Sitting a year, wrapped in foil, in the fridge....it was excellent!
I've got a batch in the fridge from last thanksgiving and we were planning on drinking some this thanksgiving. Any word on how to tell if its bad bu looking at the mason jar I've got it in? Also, I only wrapped them in foil for the last month or so, does that matter? They still look uniform in color but I don't want to pop the tops until T-day.
Dear MotorNPestle,
I think the Al foil is simple to keep you from watching the curing process. From my experience last year, the several month aging process produces some unsightly things. The appearance was similar to an egg nog lava lamp. With that said, either use the foil or just shake the bottle/jar before dispensing. I shared about 4 liters of nog last year that had aged for +/- 2 months with no reported maladies.
Taste Bud and others.
My friend and I drank a few jars of the batch from last november this weekend. Thought I should share a few things. One, the nog never separated. It remained a constant consistency. Perhaps it lightened in color a bit, but other than that remained the same. I think the lava lamp effect you describe is something odd.
The taste of the year-old batch was great. My friend, who I should mention doesn't drink much and was put off my the alcohol "bite" of the month-old batch last time, loved it. I don't know if it needs a year, but I think longer thank 3 weeks wouldnt hurt. All in all a great recipe.
I made this July 3 and just tried it. Not bad at all! It has definitely thickened up a bit, and tastes sweeter than I recall. No separation -- very good consistency, actually. Nice dark color. There is quite a bit of alcohol bite; I don't mind it, but I drink straight whiskey on a regular basis. I'm not sure if non-drinkers will enjoy it much. I also don't like the grated nutmeg on top -- it's a bit coarse. Next time I will do a nutmeg infusion in some bourbon or rum before mixing everything up, and add it to taste. That way, nutmeg goodness minus the grit. All in all, definitely a repeat -- and much longer next time!
Update: I let it sit around for 10 minutes and warm up a bit (it was straight out of the fridge when I first posted). The alcohol bite is gone. It's richer, tastier, more drinkable. And the nutmeg has soaked in a bit and, luckily, most of it has dropped to the bottom (good riddance). I might dose the rest with some nutmeg and then filter it in a day or two...
davis_sq_pro: when you served the nog was it straight, over ice, or mixed with the whites? I have a feeling you did it straight. I've always poured it over ice so it stays quite cold and my friends always complained about the bite, so maybe its time to recommend nog straight up to them?
The recipe turned out great. My question, for anyone that might know, is whether I should include the eggwhites when I age it? The first time, I separated the egg whites as suggested, and folded them in just before serving. I want to give my next batch as gifts, but I don't think the people I'm giving it to will want to whip up some egg whites and fold them in--they'll probably just want to drink it as is. Any suggestions? Do you think if I folded in the whites and then aged it it would be okay?
mortarNpestle: straight, no ice, no whites.
palmbeach: no, I don't think that's a good idea; the whites won't remain frothy for long and so you'll end up with a rather nasty end product. How about just giving it away as-is? I personally see no point in bothering with the whites. It's delicious straight out of the bottle.
By the way, I added 1 tbsp of ground nutmeg to 1.5 liters, then used an extremely fine filter (designed for homebrewing) to get most of the powder out 24 hours later. This resulted in a nice nutmeg undertone, with no need to sprinkle it on top at serving time.
davis_sq_pro,
Thanks!
MMmm! Great stuff!
What a crowd pleaser. Shouts of "Best Egg Nog EVER!"
Made in August. Debut on Thanks giving. Did both the egg whites and the heavy whipped cream and served with fresh grated nutmen & cinnamon. No ice.
The Cognac is critical - gives tone of character to this Nog, so find as solid $50 bottle of true French. No EJ or Hennessy please.
Makers Mark and Meyers Rum as well.
Cannot wait finish on Xmas. People love it!
I grew up with a Polish Dad & Ukraine mum, I guess I was very lucky. Dad used to distill his own Vodka much to the chagrin of Mum who would yell," Michal we gonna have Politzia coming to take you to jail" I loved watching the clear liquid drip out of the coiled copper It was so potent that if you lit some in a tspn there was no residue Mum would then Cream 10 egg yolks with sugar till thick & add it to the vodka, I must have been the only 8 yr old kid who went to school in the am with a sip of booze 2 keep warm Was this my 1st taste of Eggnog?
I love this recipe!
A few
things I do differently because I make around 2 gallons at a time is that - I use ~20 eggs instead of 24. Sometimes eggnog has a residual yolk flavor that I just don't like, and using a couple eggs less eliminates this.
- I use 2 cups of cream for 4 cups milk
- I have been known to add a hint of bourbon vanilla to the eggnog and also to use brown sugar. This recipe is very forgiving and it is hard to mess up. :)
MateoInJapan - yes it is totally normal for the eggnog to separate. Not a big deal, just tip your bottles upside down a few times to re-emulsify everything.
PalmBeach, you actually CAN add the egg whites in early, but that is best done if you are aging the entire batch in a large container. I normally make the eggnog ~2 months in advance and freeze the whites until I need them. I then thaw out the whites and whip them up really stiffly around 3 weeks (or less) before our party. I add them in the eggnog and stir gently with a wooden spoon and whisk. The eggwhites will float, so every day, you will get a frothy, thick egg-white layer on the top of your eggnog, but not to worry.... just stir gently.
On the day of serving, stirr well and voila!
Adding egg whites on the DAY OF makes the eggnog frothier, but I have found that adding them ahead of time still adds to the creaminess and smoothness. My mother always added the whites ahead of time so I just copied her - but she thinks this CHOW recipe is better than her own, tastewise.