Boozy Eggnog Recipe (Cooked)
This eggnog recipe is boozy, rich, and creamy from the heavy cream and egg yolks. It's a cooked eggnog recipe, so you can feel good sipping it!
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Makes: 7 cups
Ingredients
Eggnog
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 whole star anise
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste (or 2 vanilla beans)
- 1/2 nutmeg, freshly grated (plus more for topping)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 8 egg yolks
- 1 cup brandy
- 1/4 cup dark rum
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
Instructions
- Steep the spices. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream, vanilla paste or beans, cinnamon sticks, cinnamon, cloves, anise and half of the ground nutmeg. Bring to a gentle simmer, remove from the heat, and allow to steep for 30 minutes.
- Temper the eggs. After 30 minutes, warm the milk mixture back up over medium heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar until thick and pale yellow in color. Ladle a small amount of the warm milk into the egg yolks and sugar while whisking constantly. Repeat 3-4 times until the egg mixture is warm. The goal is to temper the eggs so that they don't scramble when they're added to the remaining milk.
- Gently cook the eggnog. Whisk the egg mixture into the remaining milk while whisking constantly. Cook for 4-5 minutes over medium heat while whisking constantly until the eggnog has barely thickened.
- Add the alcohol. Remove from the heat, whisk in the brandy, rum and remaining nutmeg.
- Strain and chill. Strain through a fine mesh strainer into a heat proof container and transfer to the fridge until cold. The eggnog gets better with age, so it's best served the next day.
- Make the whipped cream. Whisk the cream with powdered sugar and vanilla until thick. Top the eggnog with whipped cream and more freshly grated nutmeg, then serve.
