If there’s one tradition that never seems to waver over time, it’s eggnog at the holidays.
Plenty of folks have their own family recipes for the creamy and indulgent drink, which can vary in degrees of liquor strength from nonalcoholic kid-friendly to an adults-only beverage.
Like many Christmas traditions, this one began in England, but it was only after the drink came to America that it really became the party beverage of the masses.
Mixologist Dale DeGroff, in his book, The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks (Clarkson Potter, $35), notes that nogs and similar beverages in England were the drinks of the wealthy because eggs, dairy and spices were expensive.
In America, however, land for farming was abundant and eggs and milk were plentiful, so “the eggnog became a much more proletarian drink.” Americans also began making the drink with the less expensive and more available rum from the Caribbean, instead of the traditional nog, which in England at the time would have used a strong ale, DeGroff explains.
While an eggnog, as an individual drink, is in every bartender’s recipe book, few folks typically order them at a bar.
“This is definitely a traditional holiday drink,” said Shaun Daugherty, a bartender at the Montrose Bar & Grill in the Holiday Inn Akron West in Bath Township and author of Extra Dry With a Twist: An Insider’s Guide to Bartending (iUniverse, $12.95) and the blog http://shaunthebartender. com. Daugherty said he rarely gets a request for the beverage and reserves his recipe for use at home. His blend calls for brandy, bourbon or rum, and can be adjusted for strength depending on the preference of the drinker. “Brandy is traditional, but a lot of folks like spiced rum in it. It really kicks it into gear,” he said.
Daugherty said many folks have concerns about eggnog because it contains raw eggs, but his recipe slow-cooks the mixture to 160 degrees to ensure its safety.
Some studies have shown that adding alcohol to the egg yolks helps to kill potentially harmful bacteria. DeGroff notes, “Raw eggs are safe for alcoholic beverages use if they are handled properly, especially when mixed with 80-proof spirits or with acid from citrus fruit, as is the case in most beverages, because both the alcohol and the acid will kill nearly all harmful bacteria.”
Nancy Bufano, a food technologist for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, writes that you can’t count on the alcohol to kill the bacteria. She suggests making the drink with pasteurized eggs, or for the best safety, cooking a base of eggs and part of the milk to 160 degrees, chilling it and then adding the remaining milk and other ingredients.
Here’s a trio of recipes to try, including Daugherty’s cooked version, a recipe that calls for pasteurized eggs and DeGroff’s version that calls for raw eggs.
SHAUN DAUGHERTY’S EGGNOG
6 large eggs
2 egg yolks
Heaping ½ cup sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 cups whole milk
½ cup heavy whipping cream
½ to 1 cup (or more) brandy, bourbon or spiced rum
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
½ tsp. grated nutmeg
Combine eggs, yolks, sugar and salt in a large saucepan and whisk until well-combined. Add milk and cream and whisk to combine well.
Place on stove over lowest setting possible and cook slowly until mixture reaches 160 degrees on a food thermometer. It will take about 20 to 30 minutes to reach temperature over this low setting. Mixture will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Strain through a fine sieve into a serving bowl. Add liquor and vanilla.
Chill well before serving. Garnish with nutmeg before serving.
Makes 6 to 8 servings.
— Shaun Daugherty
EGGNOG
6 eggs, separated
1 cup sugar
1 quart whole milk
1 pint heavy cream
4 oz. bourbon
4 oz. Jamaican dark rum
Whole nutmeg berry, for grating
In a punch bowl, beat the yolks until they turn almost white, adding ½ cup of the sugar as you beat. Stir in the milk, cream, bourbon, rum and grate in half of the nutmeg berry.
Just before serving, beat the whites in a large mixing bowl with the remaining ½ cup sugar until peaks form. Fold the whipped whites into the liquor mixture. Nestle the punch bowl into a larger bowl filled with crushed ice to keep cold. To serve, grate a light dusting of fresh nutmeg over each cup.
Makes 6 servings.
— The Essential Cocktail: The Art of Mixing Perfect Drinks, Dale DeGroff
WHITE HOUSE EGGNOG
5 oz. pasteurized egg yolks (about 6 or 7 yolks)
1 cup sugar
¾ cup bourbon
¾ cup cognac
¾ cup dark rum
7 oz. pasteurized egg whites (about 6 or 7 whites)
1 tsp. salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
1 quart milk, plus more if needed
Freshly grated nutmeg for serving
Put the yolks and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and whip until pale yellow ribbons form, 5 to 7 minutes.
Add the bourbon, cognac and rum, whip well, scrape down the sides and mix again. Transfer the mixture to a 6-quart bowl.
In a separate, clean mixer bowl using a clean beater, whip the egg whites and salt until very stiff peaks form. Fold this into the eggnog mixture.
Wipe out the mixer bowl, pour in the cream and vanilla, and whip until very stiff peaks form. Fold this into the eggnog mixture. Add the milk and whisk until smooth, 3 to 5 minutes.
Transfer the eggnog to an airtight container and chill in the refrigerator. Serve within 2 weeks. If not using pasteurized eggs, serve within 3 to 5 days, and be aware that unpasteurized raw eggs carry a risk of salmonella poisoning.
While the eggnog is refrigerated, foam will rise; simply whisk to reincorporate it before serving. Serve very cold, topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg.
Makes about 32 4-oz. servings.
— The White House Chef, Walter Scheib
Lisa Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or at labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
