Egg Nog

Boozy, creamy eggnog with foam and nutmeg on top

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City/Region: United States of America

Time Period: 1887

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At West Point in 1826, with alcohol prohibited on campus, students smuggled in large quantities of booze to make eggnog for a secret party on Christmas Eve. Drunkenness led to a riot that involved firearms, swords, broken windows, and barricades.

If you’ve never made homemade eggnog, I highly recommend it. It’s creamy, boozy, and so much more delicious than what you buy at the store. Is it good enough to start a riot over? I’ll leave that judgement up to you.

I have an allergy to raw egg whites, so in the video I used 12 egg whites worth of reconstituted dry aquafaba instead, and it worked great.

“Egg Nog
Beat the yolks of twelve eggs very light, stir in as much white sugar as they will dissolve, pour in gradually one glass of brandy to cook the egg, one glass of old whiskey, one grated nutmeg, and three pints of rich milk. Beat the whites to a froth and stir in last.”

— The White House Cook Book, 1887

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Ingredients:

• 12 medium or 10 large eggs, yolks and whites separated
• 3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar, or more if desired
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) brandy
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) rye whiskey
• 1 quart (1 L) whole milk
• 2 cups (475 ml) heavy cream
• 1 whole nutmeg, grated, or 2 to 3 teaspoons of ground nutmeg

Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks until they’re pale yellow.
2. Continue to whisk the yolks as you add about 1/3 of the sugar. Once it’s incorporated, add the next third, and once that’s incorporated, add the final third. If you want a sweeter eggnog, you can keep adding sugar until it doesn’t dissolve well. Either way, you’re looking for it to be nice and thick so that it leaves a ribbon pattern when it’s drizzled from the whisk.
3. When the egg yolk mixture is thick, slowly add the brandy while continuing to whisk until it’s fully combined.
4. Slowly add the whiskey while continuing to whisk until it’s fully combined.
5. Slowly add the whole milk while continuing to whisk until it’s fully combined.
6. Slowly add the heavy cream while continuing to whisk until it’s fully combined.
7. Whisk in the nutmeg until it’s pretty evenly incorporated.
8. In a separate bowl, whip the egg whites to soft peaks, then gently fold them into the eggnog 1/3 at a time until they’re fully incorporated and smooth.
9. You can serve the eggnog forth right away, but it’s better to age it in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours but preferably 2 to 3 days to give the alcohol a chance to mellow and the flavors to develop. Either way, ladle it into serving glasses and bedight it with a bit of nutmeg before serving it forth.

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