Eggnog and Advocaat
Christmas is the ultimate food festival and in the true festival spirit provides the opportunity for all manner of fringe foods to shine and take centre stage, seasonal and superfluous, and that otherwise wouldn’t get a look in at any other time of year; marzipan fruits, mince pies, sloe gin and of course, the Snowball.
Eggnog only appeared on my radar relatively recently, fuelled by misguided nostalgia no doubt and a desire to reclaim a part of our culinary heritage back from the Americans…like that’ll show ‘em. Eggnog is actually a version of ‘ye olde posset’ – not the version springing up on dessert menus I hasten to add, but rather the original medieval drink made with curdled milk, stale ale and spider droppings.
In real life, the two recipes share the same ingredients and differ only slightly in method, yet fulfil different drinking objectives. Advocaat is the starting point for a variety of cocktails to be enjoyed with various mixers and garnishes, or simply poured over ice, whereas eggnog is the thing to take next door when invited for Christmas drinks.
Both drinks should be kept refrigerated and will have a shelf life of 3 days, but be aware however raw or ‘lightly cooked eggs’ are considered high risk and should be avoided by those with a weaker immune system.
Ingredients
8 eggs, separated
200g caster sugar
350ml brandy*, rum, sherry or bourbon
1l single cream (or half cream/half milk)
A little grated nutmeg for eggnog
Both drinks begin in exactly the same way- whisking the egg yolks with the sugar until pale and thick. The difference thereafter is the eggnog is mixed with cream and egg whites whereas the advocaat is thickened only by heating.
Begin either recipe by whisking the egg yolks with the sugar for two or three minutes with an electric hand whisk, until pale and thick.
Next, whisk in the booze slowly, taking care not to spray it everywhere.
*(Traditionally brandy is used in advocaat, whereas eggnog can be made with sherry, rum or bourbon).
– For eggnog, add the cream and whisk it in carefully. This can now be refrigerated until ready to serve, at which point whisk the egg whites into soft peaks (not as far as meringue stage) and fold into the eggnog mix before serving with a grating of nutmeg over the top.
– For advocaat, place the bowl over a pan of simmering water, filled to 1/3 and stir until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon – the same consistency as single cream. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, stirring often until cool enough to bottle and refrigerate.