American, Product review, recipe

Merry Christmas Eggnog!

/ , , / 47 Comments

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all! This is the first Christmas that Mister and I will be spending together in Sydney. While we miss our friends back in Melbourne and love to spend Christmas with them, we are ok to spend a rather quiet Christmas after a hectic year. I am taking the opportunity to catch up on blogs, reading and my recent obsession – The Sims! LOL

I was recently sent a beautiful box of premium free range eggs from McLean’s Run. I was pleasantly surprised when the box was delivered. The cartons of eggs came in a nice wooden box and there was even a whisk in it!

McLean's Run eggs

McLean's Run eggs

McLean's Run

McLean's Run

I decided to make eggnog. I love how orange the egg yolks are!

Orange egg yolks

Orange egg yolks

Must remember to whisk the egg yolks and sugar to a pale colour.

Pale egg yolks

Pale egg yolks

This recipe is taken from Simply Recipes and I just added a dark wattleseeds instead of cloves. Dark wattleseeds has a rather deep, earthy and slightly chocolatey type taste? I bought this from the farmers market Spice stall in Melbourne.

Christmas eggnog

Christmas eggnog

 

Ingredients

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 2 cups milk
  • 2 whole cloves
  • 1/4tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2tsp of dark wattleseeds or 2 cloves
  • 1 cup cream
  • 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup of bourbon or the alcohol of your choice (brandy, rum and even Kahlua)
  • *4 egg whites (optional)- I left this out and used it to make friands instead!

Method

  1. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until they become lighter in color (can whisk by hand or use a mixer for this). Slowly beat in the sugar, whisking until fluffy.
  2. Combine the milk, cinnamon, and dark wattleseeds or cloves in a thick-bottomed saucepan. Slowly heat mixture on medium heat until it is steaming hot, but not boiling
  3. Temper the eggs by slowly adding half of the hot milk mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly while you add the hot mixture. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan
  4. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it begins to thicken slightly, and coats the back of the spoon. It helps to have a candy thermometer, but not necessary; if you have one, cook until the mixture reaches 160°F. Do not allow the mixture to boil, or it will curdle. (If the mixture does curdle you may be able to save it by running it through a blender.) Remove from heat and stir in the cream. Strain the mixture through a mesh strainer to remove the cloves. I used wattleseeds so there was no need to use a strainer. Let cool for one hour.
  5. Mix in vanilla extract, nutmeg, and bourbon (feel free to omit for kid-friendly eggnog). Chill.

Optional: Beat egg whites until they reach soft peaks. Add a teaspoon of sugar and continue to beat until they reach stiff peaks. Gently fold into eggnog.

I realised that too much eggnog can be too much of a good thing!

Christmas eggnog

Christmas eggnog

Have a great Christmas everyone. Catch up with all after Christmas. Party hard and be safe!

Christmas eggnog

Christmas eggnog

Thanks again to McLean’s Run and also Laura from One Green Bean for these beautiful eggs laid by happy hens. :)