Eggnog

After a trip to the local grocery store for some eggnog we discovered that many of the cartons of this holiday treat contain our favorite American ingredient: high fructose corn syrup. Alas, being nutrition graduate students, we decided to make our own Eggnog this winter! Who knew it was so easy? 

This recipe was adopted from Alton Brown. It has two methods of preparation, I've tried both and like this one better. 

Ingredients:

• 4 Eggs, you'll need to separate the whites and the yolks
• 1 pint (2 cups) of whole milk
• 1 Cup of heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated if you have the means
• 1/3 cups of sugar, and a separate 1 tablespoon of sugar for later
• 3 oz. of Bourbon, we used yummy Blanton's 
• A thermometer that reads at 160 degrees F.

Directions:
1.  Separate egg whites and yolks into two separate bowls. The yolks should go in a large enough bowl to hold your final product, or the bowl of a stand mixer if you  have one. 

2.  Beat the egg yolks until they lighten in color, then gradually add the 1/3 cup sugar and continue to beat until it is completely dissolved. Set aside.

3.  In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, heavy cream and nutmeg over high heat. Stir until mixture reaches a boil then immediately remove from heat. 

4.  Gradually temper the hot cream mixture into the egg and sugar mixture, being sure not to add too quickly otherwise your eggs will scramble! Return everything to the pot and heat until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F.


5.  Remove from heat, stir in your bourbon, and pour into a medium mixing bowl. Set in the refrigerator to chill. 

6.  While waiting for the egg and cream mixture to chill, beat up your egg whites! You'll want them to be soft peaks, which is easy to obtain with a hand or stand mixture, but if you don't have those (like we didn't) then you'll need to recruit some friends and trade off whisking. After you have soft peaks, add the 1 Tbs of sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.

7.  Whisk in the egg whites to the chilled cream and egg mixture. Chill and enjoy!

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