The holidays are filled with wonderful culinary pleasures, but none (to me at least) more beloved than a license to drink eggnog! I dearly, truly, and wholeheartedly love eggnog. I love my own homemade custard variety most of all, but I confess that I would even drink the kind in the green carton from the store if that were all you could get. Fortunately, it’s not. The big problem with it, though, is the awful truth that despite its many carb friendly ingredients (cream, eggs, Wild Turkey, Brandy) it’s also chock full of granulated crack–by which, of course, I mean table sugar. Made the traditional way (with a cup of sugar per batch) it’s the epitome of the high everything beverage, just bursting at the seams with carbs, calories, and fat. Fill up on that and you’ll be bursting at the seams, too.
However, with a little substituting, it becomes at least a carb friendlier treat. What follows is our recipe for the low-carb eggnog that we’ve already made (and consumed) two batches of at an early Christmas visit with our grand angels in Texas. You’ll find a slightly different incarnation of this recipe, along with many more carb friendly holiday recipes in our newest book The Low Carb CookwoRx Cookbook
Homemade Custard-Style EggNog
2 cups organic heavy cream (plus 1/2 cup to whip)
2 cups organic half and half
8 whole eggs
3/4 cup granular Splenda
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup bourbon
1/4 cup brandy
1 teaspoon nutmeg (freshly grated if possible)
1. Heat 2 cups of the cream and the half and half over medium low heat in a heavy pan.
2. Separate the whites from 2 of the eggs and refrigerate and reserve to whip later.
3. Beat the 2 yolks and 6 whole eggs with the granular Splenda until pale yellow.
4. Temper the egg mixture (to prevent curdling) with about 1 cup of the hot cream, dribbling in a bit at a time as you beat with a whisk.
5. Pour the tempered egg mixture into the remaining hot cream and stir continuously over medium low heat for about 4 or 5 minutes until the mixture begins to thicken very slightly and will just coat the back of a spoon.
6. Strain through a mesh seive to remove any lumps or clumps.
7. Stir in the nutmeg, the vanilla, and the liquors.
8. Pour into a gallon zip closure bag, seal tightly, and quick chill by placing the bag flat in the bottom of a shallow pan (a broiler pan works well) and covering with ice and water.
9. Once cool, place zip bag in refrigerator and chill eggnog base for at least 1 hour–longer if you have time.
10. Just at serving time, whip the reserved egg whites and 1 packet Splenda to soft peaks. Whip the remaining 1/2 cup cream with 1 packet Splenda to stiff peaks.
11. Pour the chilled nog mixture into a serving bowl, gently fold in the beaten egg whites and then the whipped cream, leaving some chunks of meringue or whipped cream visible in the mixture.
12. Grate or sprinkle a bit more nutmeg on top.
Now, ladle into a cup and drink a toast to your health and happiness this holiday season and in the coming year!
Ah…eggnog! A local dairy in central NY (Purity Farms in Ithaca) makes its own eggnog, and it is truly nectar…it tastes a lot like French Vanilla ice cream (you need to add your own bourbon, whiskey or rum if you want that taste, too.) Last weekend, when friends brough a gallon to the dog show, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Purity Farms eggnog is (relatively) low carb (at least, compared to the stuff in the green carton!) It came in around 15ECC per cup…and it’s so rich that it would be tough to drink a whole eight oz. I also just de-carbed fruitcake, pretty successfully–around 15g protein and 13g ECC per slice…and no artificial sweeteners. I relied on the dried fruit, macerated in 1/4 cup of orange juice concentrate, and the natural sweetness of the amaretto, and I think it’s a very good cake.
I made the eggnog yesterday afternoon. It was tasting great(reminded me of my grandmother’s condensed milk eggnog recipe) until I put the nutmeg in. I wish I had dumped the nutmeg teaspoon in using smaller increments. The nutmeg didnt taste so strong on the 2nd day.
Thanks for the recipe Mary Dan, I think my next batch will be much better. Gaelen’s comments made me suspect that my vanilla might be a bit old, so here’s to next time with fresh vanilla and nutmeg. I was so close to the taste of my grandmother’s eggnog!