The World’s Best Homemade Eggnog, In Advance of Christmas
Make this eggnog. You won’t regret it.
Oh hi! It’s my birthday! I realized that as I was prepping everything in my Master Spreadsheet. (Which, I suppose, is a topic for another day…) The big three-five. Now I’m realizing that I don’t have candles. Or a cake, for that matter.
Well, never mind. What I do have, at least for today on the blog, is The Actual Best Eggnog Recipe Ever.
But of course, there’s a story behind this. The first year I made this eggnog was the first Christmas Jarrod and I spent as a married couple. We were in India, and wanting to share the delights of eggnog with our village friends in Assam. We had to buy a whole clove of nutmeg from a spice vendor in town. The entire process was epic. And the results? Better than we could have ever imagined they would be. We’ve made it every single year since. This year will be no exception. (And of course, we’ll be making it sooner rather than later…but I’ll share the reason behind that next week.)
This is not the usual bottled chilled garbage you get at the grocery store. It’s no wonder people don’t like eggnog, with the slop they’re shilling. This here is a thousand times better. It tastes like melted ice cream, people.
And you have options with this. You can drink it fresh and warm, with a big glug of brandy, whisky or rum, or you can chill it and take swigs from the bottle every time you open the fridge. You can add liquor and make it truly festive, or you can leave it out for the teetotalers and little ones in your life. If I could go on Oprah and jump on a couch to proclaim my love of this eggnog, I would.
And with that short intro, I’ll leave you with the recipe. After all, I have a birthday to go celebrate.
The World’s Best Eggnog
Ingredients
- 4 cups milk
- 5 whole cloves
- 2 ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 12 egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 4 cups half and half
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- liquor of choice (optional)
Instructions
- Combine milk, cloves, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and heat over lowest setting for 5 minutes. Slowly bring milk mixture to a boil.
- In a large bowl, combine egg yolks and sugar. Whisk together until fluffy. Whisk hot milk mixture slowly into the eggs. Pour mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly for 3 minutes, or until thick. Do not allow mixture to boil. Strain to remove cloves, and let cool for 1 hour.
- Stir in half and half, the remaining 2 teaspoons vanilla, and nutmeg. Serve warm with or without optional liquor of choice, or chill and enjoy cold.
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