Most of my life I found the idea of eggnog to be disgusting until I tried real homemade eggnog. (Awkward sentence coming…) My daughter’s friend Audrey’s mom, Lee used to host this super fancy holiday dinner party every year- by far the fanciest sort of thing we had ever attended. She looked glamorous like a film star and the first thing she put in your hand upon entering was a glass of delicious, and as we subsequently found out, strong!!! eggnog. It’s nothing like that stuff that comes out of a carton.
I now make it every year in homage to Lee; this year it took me two tries: the first was Scrambled Egg Nog which nobody likes. I, of course, am blameless in this debacle; Saveur said to whisk the custard until “very thick” which is not possible and ends in a combination of sorrow and scrambled eggs. Now I ignore that prompt and simply adhere to the time direction. I like to serve additional bourbon on the side because…. well, because I like bourbon. You can also make this with rum if you prefer.
1 cup bourbon (or rum)
4 T brandy
1/2 cup sugar
6 egg yolks (whites reserved)
Whisk these four ingredients in a bowl and set over a saucepan of simmering water whisking constantly for 3 minutes. Set aside to cool in the refrigerator.
6 egg whites
2 T sugar
1/8 t ground nutmeg
1/2 t cinnamon (optional)
Whip in a large bowl until soft peaks form.
3/4 cup heavy cream whipped to soft peaks
Fold whipped cream and cooled egg mixture into the egg whites. Then stir in 1 cup milk. Ladle into mugs and serve with additional bourbon and garnish with some freshly grated nutmeg.