How to Make Eggnog

5 from 17 votes

How to Make Eggnog - a classic holiday drink made with egg yolks, sugar, milk, and nutmeg. Chill, pour, sprinkle nutmeg, and enjoy!

Course Beverages, Tutorial

Cuisine American

Prep Time 8

Cook Time 8

Total Time 16

Servings servings

Calories 58kcal

Author Yumna Jawad

Equipment

Ingredients

6 egg yolks
½ cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
3 ½ cups whole milk
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 whole cloves

Instructions

In a large heat safe bowl combine egg yolks, sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon. Whisk the egg yolks by hand until the sugar has been incorporated and has mostly dissolved, about 2 minutes.
Place the milk, heavy cream, vanilla and cloves in a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. When you see bubbles forming around the sides of the pan, remove from the heat. Do not let this mixture come to a full boil. Using about ½ cup of the warm milk mixture, whisk it into the egg yolk mixture to temper the egg yolks, then pour everything into the same pot and cook to160˚F on an instant read or candy thermometer.
Strain the cooked mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any cooked bits and the whole cloves, then chill for at least 1 hour before serving.

Notes

Storage: Store eggnog in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Shake or stir well before serving to redistribute any settled ingredients.

Tips:

Don't worry about raw eggs. Cooking the egg yolks to 160˚F will ensure any harmful bacteria from the raw eggs have been destroyed.

Avoid overheating the milk mixture. You want it to simmer gently with small bubbles forming on the edges of the milk. A full boil can lead to overheating and curdling.

Don't be intimidated by tempering the eggs. Just think of it as gently warming up the eggs so that they don't immediately cook when added to the warm liquid.

Notice that it will thicken as it sits. I like to keep the mixture a little lighter so you'll notice it may not be as thick as packaged egg nog at first. But if you let it sit in the fridge it will definitely thicken up.

Nutrition