Alton Brown’s Aged Eggnog

Eggnog is a staple around the holidays but I have never enjoyed the store bought stuff. Normally my wife will buy a carton of eggnog and it will sit in the fridge, I will finally drink on glass on Christmas and then it expires. When I stumbled upon Alton Brown’s Homemade Aged Eggnog recipe I thought that it might be a version I would enjoy. Check out his original recipe here.

I followed his recipe exactly except the only alcohol I used was bourbon. Russel’s Reserve 10 year 90 proof to be exact! It is the perfect option for a large group of people considering the low price (~$30-35 for 750mL), easily accessible and 10 year age statement.

List of ingredients:

• 12 large eggs
• 1 pound sugar
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 pint half-and-half
• 1 pint whole milk
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 3 cups Russel’s Reserve 10 year 90 proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whiskey
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Step 1

• Separate egg whites from egg yolk. Discard or save egg whites if desired. I normally have a separate mixing bowl, crack my egg in the middle and transfer the egg yolk back and forth from one side of the shell to the other until all of the egg white has separated from the yolk and fallen into my separate mixing bowl. I then place my egg yolks into my main mixing bowl.

Step 2

• Add the sugar and nutmeg to the egg yolks in a mixing bowl, then whisk together until the mixture lightens and falls off the whisk in a solid ribbon. It took a few minutes of continuous mixing before I was able to obtain the solid ribbon consistency.

Step 3

• Combine heavy cream, half-and-half, whole milk, Russel’s Reserve, and salt in a separate mixing bowl. Slowly add this mixture to the main mixing bowl and the egg yolk mixture. Slowly beat these together until consistent throughout. Make sure you have a large mixing bowl for this step it is a large amount of liquid.

Step 4

• Move mixture to glass jars. I bought these off of Amazon and they worked great! Store in the refrigerator for minimum of two weeks. I was able to fill five of these 16 ounce glass bottles with this recipe.

I aged my batch for two weeks and then couldn’t wait any longer! I enjoyed this recipe much more than any store bought eggnog that I have ever had. The bourbon flavor was a little strong but not overpowering. This homemade recipe provided a great thick, fresh, creamy, rich consistency that cannot be duplicated from anything you can buy at the store. It was very simple to make and total prep work totaled 30 minutes and then however long you can wait to let it age! I will admit I was very hesitant to drink this with so much raw egg in it but it tasted delicious and nobody got sick. I have two more bottles left that I am going to open up at Christmas and I will be making this every year for the holidays. Great recipe and something different that is simple to make but would impress at any holiday party!