With less than two weeks to go before Christmas, the holiday season won't be complete without a glass of delicious eggnog, the creamy beverage that's commonly laced with rum, bourbon, or brandy.
Those who are afraid to try to make a fresh batch of the drink makes a major holiday faux pas by whipping it up straight out of a carton. Remember, when it comes to eggnog, serving it fresh and homemade is the best way to go.
According to Bon Appetit, to make a classic eggnog, all it takes are six large eggs (separated), 1 cup sugar, A pinch of kosher salt, 3 cups whole milk, 2 cups heavy cream, 2 cups dark rum and whole nutmeg and cinnamon stick (for serving).
(1) To start, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large punch bowl just until sugar is dissolved.
(2) After the sugar is dissolved, whisk in milk, cream, and rum.
(3) Cover the mixture (eggnog base) and chill it for at least 2 hours.
(4) When you're ready to serve the eggnog, beat egg whites in a medium bowl until stiff peaks form using an electric mixer. Then gently fold the mixed egg white into the eggnog base and grate nutmeg and cinnamon over the drink as desired.
Using the amount of ingredients as stated, the recipe is enough to make about 12 glasses of eggnogs.
Meanwhile, the Huffington Post made a poll about the best liquor to use to spike eggnog, since drinking it without alcohol can be "unbearable."
The most commonly used alcohol for eggnog is any variant of brown liquor. Some prefer bourbon, others cognac or rum. But there are those who prefer the combination of two of the liquors, while Martha Stewart goes for all three.
Because of the differences of opinion, Huffington Post conducted a Cocktail Taste Test, and it revealed that "the best way to spike eggnog is to use two, and only two, kinds of liquor."
The cognac and rum combination received an 8.6 score, with one of the tasters saying that "The liquor balances out the milkiness of the nog. Dare I say delightful?"
Cognac and bourbon, on the other hand, was given a score of 6.5. According to tasters, it was "nice and balanced."
For the rum and bourbon combination, tasters gave it a score of 6.4, saying that it was "very weak but tasty."
Eggnogs, which were laced with just bourbon and cognac alone, both received a score of 5.5, while the eggnog that was spiked with bourbon, cognac and rum was scored 4.4, with tasters saying that the flavor was "too strong."
Meanwhile, rum alone was the least preferred by the tasters. They gave it a score of 2.5, adding that it tasted "weird."
