Christmas Eggnog

Stove Top Ingredients:
-4 cups milk
-4~8 whole cloves
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

In A Big Bowl or Pot:
-12 egg yolks
-1 cup sugar

For Adding When Cold:
-4 cups light cream (or heavy cream for very thick eggnog)
-1~2 tablespoons vanilla extract
-1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-more cinnamon to taste

OPTIONAL:
-2 cups of light rum/bourboun/cognac your choice (this amount is if you’re adding booze to the whole thing, but you can add to your own taste, even per glass)
-Extra cinnamon to taste
-Whipped cream for topping

Directions:

START ON THE STOVE

Mix the 4 cups of milk, cloves, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a saucepan, and slowly heat up on the lowest setting until it just starts boiling. Then, turn off the heat, cover the lid, and just let it sit and infuse while you prepare the other ingredients.

IN A BOWL

Combine the egg yolks and the sugar in a big pot (or bowl) and whisk together until fluffy. You’re looking for long ribbons of batter to pour off the whisk when it’s ready.

TEMPERING THE EGGS

If your milk is too cool, bring it back up to a near boil, then kill the heat. It needs to be warm enough to dissolve the sugar. Mix the milk very slowly one spoonful at a time into the egg+sugar mixture while constantly whisking. Don’t rush this or you will make scrambled eggs!

Once the bowl with the egg+sugar+milk mixture starts to feel warm to touch, the eggs have reached the same temperature as the milk. Now you can safely dump the rest of the milk in and mix it together without making scrambled eggs. (<——this is called tempering)

THICKEN THE EGGNOG

Pour the whole mixture back into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat and stir it constantly for 3 minutes. Don’t let it boil! Kill the heat, and let it cool for at least an hour. Strain/scoop out the cloves before adding the final flavours.

ADD THE FINAL FLAVOURS

Once the eggnog has chilled, stir in the cream, 2 teaspoon vanilla, nutmeg, and if you’re making it boozy, the rum. Add more cinnamon if you’re a cinnamon kinda person. Refrigerate overnight before serving, and you can always add more milk if it is too thick the next day.