We all know the holidays are much more palatable with a few seasonal bevies under our belts. I’m a firm believer in seasonal spirits and I always whip up a few batches of festive fuel when I’m entertaining.
When I lived in Japan in my 20‘s, you couldn’t buy commercial eggnog, so that first Christmas away from home, I learned how to make it from scratch. Trust me, after one sip of my homemade, holiday eggnog you’ll feel merry all season long. It truly is the best.
Best Holiday Eggnog
While thinking of others is something we do during the holiday season, the best holiday eggnog recipe serves one. The good news is that you can easily scale it up depending on how many people you’re serving.
Ingredients
- 1 egg separated
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1/8-1/4 cup brandy (or spiced rum)
- Pinch of salt
- Fresh nutmeg
Method
- Beat the egg yolk until it’s somewhat frothy and lighter in colour
- Mix in the sugar, cream, booze and a few grains of salt
- Whip separately the egg white until it’s glossy – you don’t want it totally stiff
- Gently fold the egg white into the other ingredients
- Pour into a festive glass and top with freshly grated nutmeg
How to make eggnog from scratch
If you’re keen to cut calories, replace the cream with Half and Half (or low fat milk) and swap rum extract for the brandy. If you’re not using cream, use a an aerolatte or whisk it really briskly to froth it up. I occasionally sub in agave syrup for the sugar (same proportion), but it tastes way boozier that way.
Dairy-free eggnog
If you’re not doing dairy, it’s perfectly acceptable to swap out the cream for canned coconut milk. You want the full fat coconut milke though, not the lower fat option.
Be sure to pop the can of coconut milk in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before making the recipe, so it thickens up properly when you whip it.
If I’m being honest, I prefer it coconut milk. As they say, what grows together goes together. Rum, coconuts and nutmeg go together like milk and cookies.
Have you ever made homemade eggnog? If you give this recipe a go, please let me know how it turns out.
Best RUM with the egg nog? Ron Zacapa Rum – it’s a dark aged premuim rum that is so smooooothe it became egg nog’s best friend at my place. Delish.
sounds yummy and I don’t even like Eggs!
Looks very similar to a recipe that I remember as being the best eggnog I ever had.