The week of Thanksgiving marks the beginning of egg nog season. When the sound of the Blue Angel jets have finally stopped ringing in my ears, I know it's time to look forward to bottles silky smooth nutmeg flavored cream.
Unlike the holiday shopping season which creeps closer towards the fourth of July every year, egg nog season keeps its place between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Since bottles of egg nog silently disappear all too quickly from my refrigerator shelf, it's a good idea to keep this liquid ice cream season short.
Each year I've looked for the perfect store bought egg nog. Although I've enjoyed egg nog from the Strauss Family Creamery and indulged in Clover Stornetta's egg nog, I've never been fully satisfied with any of them. Strauss egg nog lacks thickness and complexity. And while the Clover egg nog has the right thickness, it's thickened with carrageenan and tastes overly sweet.
On a related side note, many brands of egg nog are loaded with carrageenan. Eighty percent of the world's carrageenan comes from seaweed grown in the Philippines. Great. Seaweed from the Philippines in my egg nog. Ho-ho-ho. Let's add fish, soy sauce, and rice to make sushi nog.
This year, I decided to make my own egg nog.
I looked at a dozen different recipes on the internet, but I didn't find any one recipe that I liked. Taking note of the basic ratio of eggs to liquid, I created this recipe. I increased the ratio of cream to milk in order to get that luscious mouthfeel. My official tasters said that it's the best egg nog they've ever had. Hope you enjoy it and have a happy egg nog season!
Egg Nog
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6 eggs
2 cups whole milk
2 cups cream
1/4 cup rum
1/4 white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cloves
Mix the sugar with the rum in a saucier or shallow pan. Heat thoroughly so that the sugar softens into a syrup. Add spices. Allow to cool slightly while making the egg mixture. For a less sweet version, reduce the white sugar to 1/8 cup and the brown sugar to 1/3 cup.
Whip the eggs in a food processor or by hand if you're really strong. Very, very slowly add the cream. Use a high grade cream and milk like the cream and milk from Strauss Family Creamery. You want to make a mixture like an emulsion with the eggs and cream. Add milk slowly, then the room temperature syrup.
Refrigerate for a couple of hours. It's even better the next day.
