Eggnog is a funny thing. We crave it for one month a year, then never think about it again.

And when we do crave it, we love to pretend that this sinfully rich drinkable dessert (basically, it’s melted ice cream in a glass) is a perfectly reasonable and festive little pre-dinner aperitif. The more honest among us glug it down without pretense. After all, life is short; we should eat dessert first.

Technically, eggnog is cooked custard cream. The French – in a nod to the English passion for it – call it creme anglaise. The English themselves call it custard. By any name, it is the base of most ice creams.

In fact, if you felt lazy, you could just pull that pint of premium vanilla ice cream out of the freezer, let it defrost in the refrigerator, add some booze and a sprinkle of nutmeg, and pass it off as your very own custom-made eggnog. Even easier, you can buy eggnog by the carton at the supermarket. But I promise that the version you make from scratch at home will be the best you’ve ever had.

white chocolate bourbon

EGGNOG TRIPLE PLAY

Servings: 10

4 cups whole milk

1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

12 large egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 cups heavy cream

3/4 cup bourbon, brandy or rum

Freshly grated nutmeg, to garnish

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the milk and vanilla bean. Bring just to a boil, then let stand off the heat for 10 minutes. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk and discard the pod.

In a large bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the egg yolks, sugar and cornstarch until light and lemon colored, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on, slowly add about half the milk in a stream. Add the egg mixture to the remaining milk in the saucepan. Set the pan over moderately low heat. Stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, heat until the mixture coats a spoon when you run your finger through it and registers 160 F, 15 to 20 minutes.

Quickly strain the custard through a mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Stir in the cream and bourbon, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled.

To serve, ladle into cups and top each portion with freshly grated nutmeg.

White Chocolate-Peppermint Variation

Add 8 ounces of finely chopped white chocolate to the hot strained custard. Let the eggnog stand for 5 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Add the cream and bourbon, then chill as directed.

In a saucepan, combine 1/4 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water and cook over low heat, stirring, until the sugar is melted. Transfer to a small shallow bowl and let cool. In a food processor, pulse 12 candy canes until they are finely crushed. Transfer a heaping tablespoon of the crushed candy canes to a small plate.

Working with 1 serving glass at a time, dip the rim of each glass in the sugar syrup, letting the excess drip off, then into the crushed candy canes, making sure the edge of the rim is coated well. Discard the peppermint on the plate each time and add a fresh tablespoon (the candy gets wet after dipping and will not stick properly to the next glass). Let the crushed candy canes dry on the side of the glass for 5 minutes before adding the eggnog.

source : https://www.kansas.com/living/food-drink/article4229111.html