Back in my university days... a good friend of mine and I started what has now become an annual tradition. Don't know what possessed a couple of 19 year old guys sitting in a university residence to think trying to make home made egg nog would be a good idea... but for whatever reason it did, and the idea stuck. It's been around 21 years so far... and this friend and I still happen to live in the same city... we started out in Saskatoon and ended up in London, England. So this weekend, we got out the mixing bowls and whipped up a batch. I decided to document the process for your viewing pleasure, should it be something that interests you. I'll start with the recipe.... then pics to follow.
Egg Nog RecipeI believe this originally came from a "Best of Bridge" cookbook of my Mom's. I can't be sure, but I can't take credit for the recipe myself.
- 12 large eggs, separated
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups of light cream
- 26 oz of alcohol - Dark Rum/brandy/Rye whatever you've got***
- 3 cups of whipping cream
- Nutmeg
***This is actually LESS alcohol than the original recipe. Original calls for a 26 of Rum and a mickey of Rye or Brandy. I suspect it's for safety given the amount of raw egg in the recipe. Also, egg nog tends to be served in small sipping quantities. But... we drink it like big tumblers of alcoholic milk so we reduced the alcohol somewhat, and it never lasts long enough for the eggs to be a problem ::)
- Beat the 12 yolks, gradually adding the 1 cup of sugar, until lemon colored and stiff. Slowly add the alcohol and the 2 cups of light cream. Let this chill for at least an hour. **See notes for frozen booze option
- After yolk mixture has chilled, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, not too thick, then whip the 3 cups of whipping cream, again not too thick or it's hard to drink!
- Fold these two together, then add the yolk/alcohol mixture.
- Sprinkle with nutmeg and serve.
Notes:
- This improves a lot with at least 24 hours in the fridge!
- I like to grate an entire whole nutmeg into the bowl, then dust each glassful with a bit extra
- I tried a new technique this year.... froze the booze first to aid with the cooling phase of the yolks. Often, we end up buying all the stuff we need the same day we make it. So... here in England that means room temperature eggs (yup!) room temperature booze... and cold cream. By the time you whip everything, that warms things a bit more so it takes ages to cool the egg yolk mix down to fridge temperature again. With the frozen booze this year, it worked a treat...
Pics:A dozen Eggs - Separated:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/6EE0FFCE-AFB5-4228-BEC8-972526E3B674-529-0000004D4E5E008F.jpg)
Single (light) cream (1/2 & 1/2 I think in North America) and sugar:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/040E50E9-198A-43BE-A086-CEDAF472CD57-529-0000004CCE8C54F0.jpg)
Frozen booze:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/D983E07A-CF84-49FE-A8A3-E0F2333428E4-529-0000004CD9257D14.jpg)
Whipping up the egg yolks and adding the sugar:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/521180AA-1FCB-4CDE-8312-95686D4E8198-529-0000004CDD67E1C7.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/53692A23-E75E-4FC6-99F1-47E727A6D1CE-529-0000004CE1F3CFF5.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/84126ACA-7652-4D72-A14E-326D24A9A330-529-0000004CE65246B1.jpg)
Adding the light cream:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/4669EFD5-B90D-4AEB-97B5-F44D23F9C7B3-529-0000004CEB7A140F.jpg)
Adding the booze:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/102816E2-C21D-4026-855F-3F999D5C56FE-529-0000004CF3635274.jpg)
PERFECT!!(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/86AB18A1-068D-4ECD-A9E5-D81E23ABDFE5-529-0000004CF919B507.jpg)
Time for a break... oh, whats this? I have a little rum left over?? Hmmm.... whatever shall I do ;D(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/D67E94AA-0AA4-4317-8C72-FD81504AF0B0-529-0000004EC0D4D30B.jpg)
Lets head outside for a bit... roast some chestnuts (yeah... sickeningly traditional today; queue Nat King Cole :P )(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/00E8EEA5-3396-4EBB-885B-EA12D749E66C-529-0000004D9B0EC4DB.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/49891439-0A49-4A8B-B11B-80970A8F519D-529-0000004D5855D0D4.jpg)
On with the show... whip up the egg whites. Not too thick now or you'll need a spoon to drink it:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/BD0B695B-25B8-4A31-A17B-F2E3B9DEC751-529-0000004D5BCE48BE.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/CA9C8D35-10B9-47F2-97CF-04194C02A5E6-529-0000004D630A35FD.jpg)
Whpping cream. Whip it. See above warning.(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/1B9754B8-4FFE-4AFD-B1F8-4A47F05845A6-529-0000004D67FF93AD.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/A12CF0F0-A5BE-4C9E-9DEA-B0D2A5208B39-529-0000004D6D9A10E5.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/1930C7DF-7A29-47D6-B6FE-9FE6EF17A46A-529-0000004D71CE169A.jpg)
Fold the egg whites into the whipped cream:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/58DCE944-B9B5-4D61-BC4B-5A4355561AE1-529-0000004D7610A803.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/7AE2271C-FC76-43D9-93F1-4ACF3BDDD2D9-529-0000004D7F229DAC.jpg)
Mix the yolk/alcohol mixture into the cream/egg white mixture:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/BDD1D985-720A-44AB-8E23-34283CB6DC72-529-0000004D8345E56F.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/2AEEC4F2-4AC6-4D9D-A947-7ECCF18C539A-529-0000004D873DF2A3.jpg)
Give it a good whisk to get it nice and smooth:(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/9AB0E005-9F37-4279-B392-444E6F971AC5-529-0000004D8B01CC5E.jpg)
Grate some nutmeg into the bowl and onto the glasses as you drink it! Enjoy!(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/80A3F6FA-00FB-41F4-8ADC-070EBD706FBA-529-0000004D8EE0DBD1.jpg)
(http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/uu36/tdcooper/Egg%20Nog%202012/40B3477A-2E4D-4918-A4C0-1883364ABF34-529-0000004D935114FB.jpg)
Brings back Memories, Gotta go to work or I'd have a couple with yah ;D Nice post!!
That looks great. I see you are using caster sugar. Would regular white sugar work just as well.
For those who are not aware of what caster sugar is, it is what we call in the U.S. superfine sugar. It is the type of sugar bartenders use, because it dissolves much easier than white sugar in cold beverages.
Quote from: Habanero Smoker on December 10, 2012, 01:18:35 PM
That looks great. I see you are using caster sugar. Would regular white sugar work just as well.
For those who are not aware of what caster sugar is, it is what we call in the U.S. superfine sugar. It is the type of sugar bartenders use, because it dissolves much easier than white sugar in cold beverages.
Is that the same as powdered sugar? or in between "regular" white sugar and powdered sugar?
Yeah, in fact the recipe calls for plain old white sugar, but I find caster sugar dissolves a lot easier, hence why bartenders use it. Its not powdered... just finer than normal white sugar.
Quote from: ExpatCanadian on December 10, 2012, 01:46:48 PM
Yeah, in fact the recipe calls for plain old white sugar, but I find caster sugar dissolves a lot easier, hence why bartenders use it. Its not powdered... just finer than normal white sugar.
Ahh. and Nice job on the Egg Nog!
I'll bet that is some real tasty stuff and nice pictorial.
Did you and your buddy get together to have that first one?
Quote from: ExpatCanadian on December 10, 2012, 01:46:48 PM
Yeah, in fact the recipe calls for plain old white sugar, but I find caster sugar dissolves a lot easier, hence why bartenders use it. Its not powdered... just finer than normal white sugar.
Great! Sometimes it is hard to fine the superfine sugar in my area, so if I can't find it I will use white sugar.
Quote from: JZ on December 10, 2012, 02:16:06 PM
Did you and your buddy get together to have that first one?
Absolutely! He came over for the "making" & the drinking.
Funny how folks tastes change... you know when we first started this, you couldn't PAY our friends to drink it... so we had it mostly to ourselves. Now... once it's made we can barely get one glass for ourselves... before the next batch is needed!!