"Light-er" Homemade Eggnog

“Eggnog – YUCK, no thanks!” This had been my natural response to any previous eggnog offer. Who wants that nasty thick liquid that plops out of a carton and coats your stomach for the next four hours. And don’t even get me started on that nutrition label….and that’s for the drink WITHOUT alcohol! Yikes! No wonder people pack on the pounds over the holidays. Yet here I am writing up a review for an eggnog that was made willingly at my apartment…and that I was sad when we licked the bowl clean. What happened to my aversion to this guilt-packed holiday beverage? That’s the magic of homemade cuisine. You have control over the ingredients, the preparation, the taste, the texture….the final outcome! And when all of those features align, you’ve got yourself one heck of an eggnog. I’ll equate the difference to the disparity between a cheap frozen store-bought pizza and a pizza fresh out of the 800 degree wood burning oven with top notch ingredients. Yep, it’s about like that.

Now for lovers of the store-bought product, this may not be for you. It’s a completely different product…in my opinion, that’s a very good thing…but to “store-bought purists” it may not be. This serves as my disclosure. Also to those who love a thick heavy-cream laden drink…you are warned as well. The base recipe that we used for the eggnog calls for a liberal amount of heavy cream…a standard for eggnog recipes. Though I am sure that the final product of the original recipe is divine, I don’t think I could coax myself into having more than one glass…and I’d be a little afraid that my body would punish me for the amount of lactose that I was putting in it. So Derek and I agreed to slim down the eggnog recipe in order for us to fully enjoy our holiday eggnog evening.

“Light-er” Homemade Eggnog
Makes about 3-4 drinks

3 egg yolks
1 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup dark rum (we used Appleton Estate)
¼ cup heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup 2% milk
2-3 egg whites (2 is probably best…3 for a more frothy product)
fresh nutmeg

Note: Derek “pasteurized” the eggs before using them by heating room temperature eggs to 140-150 degrees for about 3 minutes …and made sure to get cage-free, organic eggs…there is less of a chance of salmonella when the eggs don’t come from a source where the chickens are cooped up along with all of their waste…

Beat the egg yolks until they are light in color. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Add 2 cups of liquor (or combination of liquors) very slowly, beating constantly. (Note: Any of these liquors can form the basic ingredient of the nog or may be combined to taste.)

Let the mixture stand covered for 1 hour to dispel the "eggy" taste. Add, beating constantly, 2 or more cups of liquor and the whipping cream. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them lightly into the other ingredients. Serve the eggnog sprinkled with fresh nutmeg.

I cannot emphasis the importance of using fresh nutmeg. It makes a world of difference. The beverage itself is not super thick…which is a good and bad thing. Good because I’d rather not keep downing alcoholic milkshakes…and bad because I can easily down a glass of alcoholic holiday cheer. These are deceptively strong so it was probably a good thing that Derek and I only made a small amount…otherwise we may have kept on sipping…and Derek may have repeated his infamous missed-flight-after-a-night-of-eggnog mistake (yes, that did happen in New York…the first time we made homemade eggnog…missing a flight just before Christmas? Not a good idea). We joked that this would happen again as we decided to make eggnog once again on the night before his departure for South Carolina – however…this time his flight was later in the morning and the eggnog was probably a bit more reasonable in portion size.

We used three egg whites which made the final product pretty frothy on top – given that I love cocktails with egg whites…this was a nice feature for me. For not being a fan of eggnog – I’m certainly glad I gave this one a try…and we are going on about 2 or 3 years of making this now…so I san probably say that I’m starting a bit of an eggnog tradition in my household – who would have thought!?



For your reference…here’s the original recipe that came from our good friend Phil

Homemade Eggnog
Makes about 12 drinks

12 egg yolks
1 lb. confectioners' sugar
4 or more cups dark rum, brandy, bourbon or rye (Phil uses 6)
2 quarts whipping cream
8 to 12 egg whites
fresh nutmeg

Beat the egg yolks until they are light in color. Gradually beat in the confectioners' sugar. Add 2 cups of liquor (or combination of liquors) very slowly, beating constantly. (Note: Any of these liquors can form the basic ingredient of the nog or may be combined to taste.)

Let the mixture stand covered for 1 hour to dispel the "eggy" taste. Add, beating constantly, 2 or more cups of liquor and the whipping cream. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Beat the egg whites until stiff but not dry. Fold them lightly into the other ingredients. Serve the eggnog sprinkled with fresh nutmeg.