Your holidays are not complete without a swig of a good, chilled eggnog. Period. And I for one find it extremely comforting to keep a company of a glass of eggnog on my movie and series night. Chilled, custard-y, fragrant with all the heavy spices and well, just the right bit boozy, this eggnog recipe that I am about to share is a cooked one and uses brandy which gives it it’s oak-ey, caramel-y taste which I really, really like. But if you are a rum enthu-cutlet, you can use Amaretto and White Rum, you can use Dark rum and you can use Whiskey too if you wish. My ideal choice was Teacher’s Highland Cream given the amazing smokey sweet taste it has but I was under the rifle to not use that up and use the Brandy instead- so here it is! A perfect Holiday eggnog recipe that you can make at home from scratch. Enjoy! 

Oh, before I delve into the nogginess, this recipe is taken from Madhuri’s lovely blog MadAboutKitchen but I have tweaked a bit here and there- like adding a few cloves to the boiling milk, swapping whipped cream with heavy cream {the first version was half and half} and using only yolks and not the whites because I wanted a bit more body to the nogg over lightness. You can tweak it according to how you like. There are no hard and fast rules really, save one- if you are making the cooked version, be careful while adding the egg mixture back to the saucepan because if your heat is too high, the eggs will cook into a lovely omelette. And you don’t want that. Rest- all chill! Okay then, off we go to make eggnog. 

Here’s what you’ll need to make spiked eggnog

5 Egg yolks, 1/2 cup – Granulated sugar, 2 1/2 cups – Whole milk, 1 cup – Brandy, 1 tbsp Vanilla extract, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1 tbsp powdered sugar, 1/4 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg, 2 cloves, 2″ cinnamon and 1 star anise.

How to make cooked spiked eggnog recipe

In a sauce pan, heat whole milk with cloves and star anise and a 2″ stick of cinnamon to a simmer. In another bowl, whip egg yolks and sugar until the eggs lose color and become pale yellow. Now, to temper the egg mixture with hot milk: Ladle a spoonful of the heated milk to the bowl with the egg mixture and whisk well. Next, return the egg mixture to the simmering bowl of milk and continue stirring. The custard will be done when you dip a spoon in the custard and run your finger on the custard and line stays clear. Sieve it to remove cloves and cinnamon or any other impurities, add brandy and freshly grated nutmeg. Pour into a jar, add cling film on top and chill. If you don’t have a cling film, add butter paper or parchment paper. 

When the eggnog is completely cooked, and ideally before serving, whip heavy cream with some powdered sugar until they form soft peaks, fold int the eggnog mixture and serve with freshly grated nutmeg.

Now you can also use half and half instead of heavy cream and it still tastes really nice! Infact, I think I have a lovely name for it: a night cape! A night cap that actually makes you feel so amazing that you think you are a super hero. Like if Hygge can be a drink, it’ll be eggnog it’s that good.  

Try. You’ll fall in love. 

Rukmini

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