Traditional Eggnog for the Holidays

An Annual Tradition

Almost every year since I met my husband, we have made a recipe for traditional eggnog that his mom shared with me.  She originally snipped it from an issue of Early American Life magazine in the 1970s. It was a recipe that belonged to an old hotel in New England.

I wanted to share the recipe last year, but I also wanted to get permission from the hotel first. I contacted them, and the holidays came and went before I heard back.  When I received their response, I was told that they don’t use the recipe anymore, nor did they have a recollection of it. They didn’t want their name associated with it and said I could do whatever I wanted.

So, without further ado, I’m sharing it this year!  It makes a large batch – about a gallon and a half. I mixed mine up yesterday, and you aren’t supposed to drink it for at least 5 days. So, we should be able to have a bit for Thanksgiving!

This is kind of a messy recipe to make, and it gets several bowls dirty. But, it’s delicious! (And boozy, so if you don’t drink, this one isn’t for you.)

Making the Eggnog

In lucky bowls #1 and #2, you separate the egg whites from the yolks.

In bowl #1 with the egg whites, beat them until stiff with your electric mixer. Towards the end, mix in 1/2 cup of sugar. Set bowl #1 aside.

 

 

 

In bowl #2 with the egg yolks, add 1 cup sugar and beat with an electric mixer until smooth.

Next, in bowl #3 put your 1 quart of heavy whipping cream, and beat it with an electric mixer until stiff and soft peaks are forming.

 

 

 

Note – make sure your mixer is on a pretty high speed here. And beware, if your bowl isn’t large enough and you don’t pay attention, you might make a mess as I did.

 

 

 

 

Mixing It Together

Ok. Now that all of those bowls are dirty and you likely splattered things in places, it’s time to put everything together. Find the largest bowl you have, and combine the milk, rum, bourbon, and vanilla. Then, slowly add and stir your 3 bowls into it also – your egg white mixture, egg yolk mixture, and whipped cream.

(If you are my stand mixer people, you can mix each thing together in your largest bowl as you have it whipped – since you need to reuse your mixer bowl.)

 

 

The liquids and whipped ingredients won’t mix very well because the liquid will want to stay on the bottom and the whipped goodness on the top. Do the best you can.  You may opt to leave everything in this large bowl for a few hours and stir it again to incorporate it fully.

 

 

 

Putting it in Jugs and/or Jars

When it has been thoroughly mixed, you can then transfer it into your glass jug(s) and/or jar(s).  It will be about 1 1/2 gallons of eggnog, so a gallon jug isn’t large enough. Also if you are like me, you’ll find out after the gallon jug is full that it doesn’t fit on any of the shelves in your refrigerator.

Ideally, I would store this in 3 half-gallon mason jars in my refrigerator, but I’ve had a busy food preservation year. Not only am I completely out of empty quart jars, but I also used all of my half-gallon jars for my dehydrated goods. So, we stored our eggnog in a 1-gallon jug, 2 quarts, and a pint.  It’s cold here in Minnesota and my back porch is unheated, so the gallon is hanging out there for now.

After the eggnog is made and in your vessels of choice, it should be refrigerated for at least five days before consumption.  The container(s) should be gently shaken daily.

After a week, the liquor flavor in the eggnog mellows a bit.

Disclaimer: About the Raw Eggs

Yes, this recipe is made with raw eggs.  No, I don’t use pasteurized eggs when I make it, though I do buy free-range brown eggs.  Use your own judgment and comfort level when making this recipe. Some people prefer using pasteurized eggs. There is more information about salmonella and the risks here on FoodSafety.gov. Also, here is an interesting article about making eggnog with raw eggs.

When food safety is discussed, some people say, “I’ve always done it this way and I’ve never gotten sick.”  The argument is that since we have the knowledge, we might as well do it the proper way and not risk it.

Me? While I’m very careful with my food preservation rules, I’m not afraid of a few raw eggs. Maybe next year I’ll try sous vide my eggs first to pasteurize them. This year, I didn’t. You do what makes you comfortable and happy, though!

Enjoying the Eggnog

We enjoy our eggnog in coffee on weekend mornings, and sometimes in hot chocolate. It’s also good plain or as an iced coffee drink.  The recipe itself doesn’t call for any cinnamon or nutmeg, but you could sure add that to it if you would like.

The Official Recipe

If you make the eggnog, tell us how you liked it in the comments below!

If you enjoyed this post, you should check out my other Holiday posts.