Whipping up a batch of rich, creamy eggnog is easy if you follow these easy steps from maitre d' instructor Doug Miller of The Culinary Institute of America. He begins by adding 4 egg whites to a large bowl and using a hand blender to whip them just short of soft peak stage, 1 to 2 minutes. He sets them aside, then adds 4 egg yolks, a tablespoon of vanilla, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of allspice and a bit of fresh nutmeg to another bowl along with 1/4 cup of sugar. Using the hand blender again, he mixes them until combined, then pours in 1 cup of heavy cream and 1 cup of milk. (You can use reduced-fat milk if you prefer.) He blends this mixture until the cream and milk are incorporated, then adds the egg whites and gently works them in to give the drink lightness and an airy texture. If you want to add alcohol, you can certainly do so -- bourbon, rum, and whiskey are all good choices.
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Hi, I'm Maitre D' Instructor Doug Miller from the Culinary Institute of America, and today I'm going to show you this kitchen basic: how to make eggnog.
Traditionally we drink eggnog over the holiday season. The recipe I'm going to show you today, we've been making in my family for well over thirty years. It starts off with egg whites - I have four egg whites already in this bowl. I'm going to use a handheld mixer, and what I'm doing is incorporating air into the egg whites; you want to whip it until it gets almost to the point of soft peaks. This takes approximately one minute to two minutes.
I'm going to set the egg whites aside for the time being, and in my other bowl I'm going to put four egg yolks, and to that I'm going to add a tablespoon of vanilla extract, a teaspoon of cinnamon, a teaspoon of allspice - and then I'm going to grate a little bit of fresh nutmeg. If you don't have fresh nutmeg you can always use nutmeg that's already been ground. I'm also going to add a quarter cup of sugar, and I'm going to mix this with my hand mixer for about thirty seconds. Once that's incorporated, I'm going to add a cup of heavy cream and also a cup of milk. You can use whole milk, 2% or skim milk.
After I've incorporated that, I'm going to add my egg whites into the bowl, and just use a spoon to fold in, or incorporate, the egg whites. The reason I've separated my egg whites is so the eggnog becomes a nice frothy white drink. The whipped egg whites will add a little bit of air into the mixture, and it won't be so dense. If you like, some people prefer to add a little bit of alcohol in their egg nog; you can add bourbon, rum, whiskey, whatever your preference is.
And that's holiday egg nog.