Eggnog: How to make a favorite holiday cocktail
We love getting surprise packages in the mail and the past couple months we have been so lucky to receive a few of them. Despite the miles, Diane & Todd, have become great friends. They are always surprising us with a little something something and recently we got some of that great Vietnamese Cinnamon Bark, they have been raving about!
I knew it would be perfect as an addition to something yummy for the holidays. When I was flipping through the December issue of Saveur, I found it! Rompope – otherwise known as Mexican Eggnog. By this time of the year we have finished off a few gallons of eggnog. I have held back on buying any this year and am I glad I did! Not only is the recipe so easy but it is very rich and delicious with its thick custard base and sweet cinnamon rummy taste. Much better than any store bought brand. You will definitely want to add this to your holiday must have around the house list! (and you will not have to wait for November for it to come out in the stores – you can have all year long)
Recipe: Eggnog
* adapted from Saveur
MAKES 1 QUART
4 cups milk
3⁄4 cup sugar
1 cinnamon stick,
6 egg yolks
2⁄3 cup golden rum
1 tsp. vanilla extract
In a tall 4-qt. nonreactive pot, stir together milk, sugar, and cinnamon. Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Do not stir the milk, but use a spoon to skim off and discard any skin that forms on the surface of the liquid. Boil until the mixture is reduced to about 2 3⁄4 cups, 25–30 minutes. Remove and discard the cinnamon.
Whisk egg yolks in a medium metal bowl. While whisking yolks constantly, slowly drizzle in the hot milk mixture. Set the bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, making sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon or until it reaches 175° on an instant-read thermometer, about 5 minutes. Immediately place the bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and let cool, stirring frequently. Whisk in the rum and vanilla.
Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a 1-qt. jar or bottle. Refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight to allow flavors to meld. Serve chilled.
That looks soooo good! Homemade eggnog is such a treat, especially with that lovely cinnamon!
Isn’t it amazing stuff! It was the best gift I have ever received! I will be making this eggnog for the holidays, it looks incredible!
The eggnog is so perfect for the season and bet it tastes wonderful! I love it!
Thanks for being such great blog buddies guys, you rock! Hugs.
How fun to receive surprise packages, especially with contents like Vietnamese Cinnamon Bark. Your egg nog sounds lip-smacking.
Paz
[...] addition. I made two flavors: Apricots with Portuguese Brandy and Blood Orange zest with Vietnamese Cinnamon and fresh ground pepper. As well I found a Chocolate biscott in Dorie’s book, so I gave it [...]
Hello, Denise. DIane and Todd let us try some of this bark last week, it was delicious and the story behind it really fascinating. With regard to eggnog, we have the most sinful recipe – vanilla ice cream, whipping cream (whipped), rum, bourbon, a little nutmet. Mix in a bowl and leave in the refrigerator. Can you say calorie bomb? Delicious. Adding some cinnamon would make it even better.
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Cheers!
[...] baking ginger) as well as cloves and cinnamon, lucky for us, I still had some of that lovely cinnamon bark so I used that. In addition to molasses (which I forgot how much I liked until I licked the [...]
[...] (chicken this time). I love this recipe as it was so complex by using the cinnamon (we used the Viet cinnamon bark), black peppercorns, and star anise. It was such an interesting combination, slightly spicy [...]
Homemade eggnog can’t be beat. And what a treat to get special cinnamon like that.