Publix is consistently out of the only Eggnog worth buying, so from now on, I'm making my own. This is how to do it yourself. You'll need a stand mixer; although an electric hand mixer would work also.
You can mess with pasteurized eggs but I'd rather cook them:
Ingredients
4 Egg Yolks
Quart of Milk
Vanilla Extract
1/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream
*Brandy
1/4 Cup Sugar
Makes 3.5 12oz Servings
Separate the yolks and drop them into the bowl of a stand mixer with the whipping attachment. Whip the yolks until frothy and thickened; 4-5 minutes.
Combine sugar, an optional splash of brandy, a dash of vanilla extract and the milk in a saucepan. The store stuff probably has 3/4 of a cup of sugar. I use about 1/4 cup; you can adjust to your taste. I add about a quarter cup of cream. You can vary the amount of milk/cream to make it more or less fattening. You're adding whipped cream later, so not too much cream.
Heat the milk mixture to 155 degrees (use a thermometer) and make sure the sugar dissolves. Pour half of the mixture into a measuring cup and turn the stand mixer on low. Add the milk in a slow stream to the egg yolks. What you're doing here is tempering (cooking) the egg yolks. Pour the rest of the milk mixture into the measuring cup, turn the mixer up a notch, and add the rest of the milk. Kick the mixer up 1 more notch and beat for another 30 seconds.
Turn off the mixer, pour the eggnog into a container and refrigerate 3-4 hours until chilled; so if you want to drink it first thing in the morning; make it the night before. I pour the eggnog into the empty milk container. I also make it the night before; because I want to drink the eggnog first thing in the morning
Clean out the mixer bowl, put it in the freezer and make whipped cream when you're ready to drink the egg nog. Whipped cream has to be freshly made.
Add about 100 calories for whipped cream. Note that McArthur's eggnog is 510 calories per 12 ounces. So this is low-cal in comparison.
Original Post 12/25/16
Eggnog is something I drink 1 day of the year. Christmas morning. We all have our traditions ingrained by our childhood; for some people eggnog is just another vehicle for consuming alcohol; I think my mom spiked ours with rum one Christmas eve when we were a bit older; but generally it was something we drank while opening presents on Christmas day.
First things first: eggnog is one word. Don't be a doody-head and call it Egg Nog.
If you want to mess around with raw egg yolks feel free, but there's really no reason in modern times. We have the McArthur dairy; which is the only dairy worth paying more for.
Santa on the label. These guys know what they're doing.
You're drinking eggnog 1 day a year, so don't buy the store brand to save $1. It's not as good. McArthur's is as close to perfection as there is; if you made it yourself there would only be a small chance that it would be as good.
The trick with store eggnog is that you have to dress it up. It's very easy to make it so good that you'll never know it wasn't made from scratch.
Whipped Cream
Whipped cream transforms store-bought eggnog into a creamy drink that's the stuff of kings. My mom made whipped cream with heavy cream, a spoonful of sugar and a dash of vanilla extract. No need to beat my chest and try to improve on that recipe.
One thing different is that my mom used an electric mixer and a glass bowl. I've learned that if you put a stainless bowl in the freezer it makes the whipped cream much faster. I have a kitchen aid, because who wants to spend Christmas Day nursing a sore arm?
A pint of whipped cream, a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of vanilla extract into the bowl and you turn it on. You really don't need to write any of this down.
A few minutes later you have thick, pillowy whipped cream. Just don't forget about it because you don't want butter in your eggnog.
Now you just "fold" it in. I've never really known what that means, but you mix it together without getting it all over the counter.
I happen to have some whole nutmeg in the cupboard, which is a LOT better than a 3 year old shaker of pre-ground stuff.
You'll never see the word Yum on this site, except on Christmas day. This stuff is really good. But only once a year.
