A big nod to Carnivore’s Cave who inspired this post from this eggnog one.
I made homemade eggnog for the first time last year. It isn’t exactly Paleo, but who cares for the holidays. I actually made it in early September to enjoy between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Yes, that’s three to four months before the date to enjoy. It gives the flavor time to mellow and it turned out great. However, even here in early November, you can still make this to impress at that holiday party or gathering, the flavors won’t be quite as mellow, but will still be great. I followed this from another source that called this “Best Damn Eggnog”, may not be the best but pretty damn good. Here’s the recipe (not cheap by the way due to the liquor):
Ingredients:
12 large fresh eggs (local, free range please)
1/2 gallon whole milk
1 cup of heavy cream
1 cup high quality vanilla ice cream
1 cup Frangelico (a hazlenut liqueur)
1 cup dark rum
3 cups bourbon (I used Kirkland’s bourbon, but use something halfway decent as this is the largest amount of liquor)
1 shot Amaretto (got the one-shot deals from the liquor store)
1 shot brandy
2 tbs grated nutmeg
2 tsp ground cinnamon
You’ll also need two gallon glass jugs. I used some old ones from table wine. Wrap them in tinfoil. You’ll also need refrigerator space which for two large jugs may be hard to come by. Finally, you’ll need an electric mixer and funnel.
Separate the eggs. In a large bowl beat the whites until they are stiff. In a small bowl beat the yolks until they are of a very even consistency and frothy. Fold the yolks into the whites and stir gently.
With an electric mixer on low very slowly pour in the milk and cream and add ice cream, which should be softened at room temperature for easy mixing. Allow this to rest for a couple hours then with the mixer on low very slowly add the booze. I pour it into a 2 cup measuring cup so I can control it better and do about a cup and a half at a time, slowly. After each cup and a half, I run the mixer thoroughly through everything, scraping the sides and whatnot. If you add the booze too fast, it can curdle the mixture. Go slow. Make it a project and only do a cup at a time and do yardwork or lift weights or something. Keep it chilled if you go slow like that though. Finally after all the booze has been mixed in dump in the nutmeg and cinnamon and stir it in thoroughly.
The mixture should fill two 1 gallon jugs to about 3/4ths full. Wrap the jugs in tinfoil. Light is bad for the aging process. Make sure the lids do not leak and store them in the fridge. Every week turn the jugs upside down gently a couple times and switch back and forth from storing on their sides to storing upright. It’s perfectly fine to forget a week here and there or turn them a little too much.
Carnivore says
Wow, what a recipe. I like all the booze – built in, no need to add later. This will be a keeper for the next big holiday party. (Little too much to imbibe myself.) Interesting that it uses whole eggs. Does it have more of an Irish cream type of flavor?
Thanks for the link!
AverageMarriedDad says
It definitely has the eggnog flavor with the nutmeg and cinnamon. I like it since it’s not super sweet like store bought stuff, and is really creamy (though not like Irish cream in my opinion). Most recipes call for some sugar, so if you like it sweeter than what the icecream gives you, I suppose you could add a little sugar. The booze keeps the eggs ok. One recipe I found (but didn’t try) had the eggnog made a year in advance, so it does keep.
sunshinemary says
Thanks for posting this. I’m going to try making it.