I’ve ended up with the responsibility to bring eggnog to my family gathering. I need mostly with alcohol and a some without. How should I go about this? Should I just buy it in the store and get some rum or brandy? Make it from scratch? I am capable in the kitchen but not amazing. I don’t even know what’s in eggnog though. So recipes or support for store bought would be helpful. This is for 12-18 people.
I just made eggnog for the first time last week and it tasted just like the store-bought. And it was very easy. Here’s the recipe I used as it matched what we had on hand.
Changes: I added one extra egg and an extra yolk and vanilla extract as we didn’t have a bean handy.
Where you really need to be careful of is adding the hot milk to the egg mixture, too fast and you’ll have scrambled eggs. I did about a quarter cup at a time, whisking constantly.
What area of the country are you in? If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, their premium eggnog is terrific.
One tip: if you’re adding rum or brandy, make sure you give it a good stir afterwards. If you just pour it in, the alcohol will mostly float on top of the eggnog.
I have one nearby that may be the answer.
Cooked eggnog, like runner pat made above, isn’t worth the time to make, imo. It’s a good ice cream base, but that’s about it. If you’re going to make it from scratch, the uncooked version is much quicker, easier, and will likely wow your family. Alton Brown has an excellent recipe that I would post if I was on any device other than my phone. It’s easy to Google, though.
Just buy it and dump it into a punch bowl. Sprinkle some nutmeg on top. Put the bottles of rum or brandy next to it so people can measure out their own quantities. After a couple of drinks, nobody will give a damn where it came from.
If you can get Oberweis in your area, that would be ideal. Theirs is the best store bought I’ve had.
Eggnog is so cheap. Why make it yourself? Grab a gallon from the diary section of the grocery store.
I made the Alton Brown recipe a couple of years ago. I thought it was tasty, but I wound up whipping it a bit overmuch, and came out very, very foamy. My friends drank it anyway, in part to be polite, but, primarily, because it had a lot of booze in it. In short, buy it from the store, and save yourself the bother.
Here’s a surprisingly good (in spite of the sketchy sounding ingredients) recipe from my wife’s family:
Whip 1 pint whipping cream (I suppose you could use Reddy-Whip if you wanted)
Blend together in a blender:
1 qt store-bought eggnog
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
½ - 1 cup sugar (may add more, to taste)
1 tsp nutmeg
Fold in ½ cup of the Whipped Cream
Store mixture in refrigerator overnight
Stir-in:
1 ½ cup of the Whipped Cream
1 can (12 oz) evaporated milk
2 cups bourbon
2/3-cup rum
1/3-cup brandy
Store in sealed glass containers in the refrigerator.
Better after sitting for a day.
Can be made in one day. Add blended mixture to all “stir-in” ingredients (except whipped cream) in a large bowl. Then, fold in the whipped cream.
Serve with floating whipped cream and grated nutmeg garnish.
When I’ve served it in the past, it’s been polished off so fast that I regret not tripling the recipe. I’ve found there to be very little trouble in making it, and a gigantic difference in quality. Your mileage obviously varies, so maybe the taste of the guests is the difference.
I have made Martha Stewart’seggnog for parties in the past. It is very good, much better than any store bought I have had.
Two warnings:
- The recipe as printed is fairly high octane, beware
- The recipe as stated is HUGE batch. You probably want to cut in in half or even to one quarter
I’m entirely sure that the fault that evening was in my execution, and not the recipe or the guests.