HOMEMADE EGGNOG

acthiessen — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 22:04:00 +0000

One of the things that I miss most about Christmas in Canada is eggnog! Or better yet, eggnog lattes (insert heart eyes here). Starbucks in the UK only uses an ‘eggnog syrup’ not actual eggnog, which is not at all the same taste. Bleh. The first time I ordered one, I thought it tasted funny, but thought eggnog here was just sweeter or something.

So this year, after having a taste of proper eggnog back in Canada, I decided to make my own. The nice thing about homemade eggnog is that you can control the calories and spices. Use full-fat milk, cream, or skim… whatever your heart desires! Add rum, or no rum: star anise, cloves, or just nutmeg. I like mine with lots of spice and a hint of rum; which also happens to be spiced!

Most recipes I found online, said to use three parts whole milk, to one part cream. I wanted to make mine a bit healthier and use only whole milk, but it’s not as thick as normal eggnog. Use single, double, half + half… whatever your heart desires! I also found recipes that said to whip the egg whites separately, and then add in just before serving. I imagine this would give it a bit of a frothier/thicker texture, but it felt like a wasted effort for me.

The flavor will get stronger if you leave it overnight, so long as you keep the spices in. And if you want a festive punch, rather than just classic eggnog, add some 7-Up (or similar) and scoops of vanilla ice cream before serving. Perfection!

Even if you’re in North America, and have access to store-bought stuff, give homemade eggnog a try. It’s really quite delicious!

Homemade Eggnog

Prep Time 30

Total Time 30

Ingredients

1 litre whole milk*
5-6 whole eggs
130 g sugar
120 ml spiced rum
3 cinnamon sticks
2-4 cloves
1 vanilla bean split with seeds scraped out**
1 star anise
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Instructions

In a small saucepan with a lid, place the milk/cream, vanilla pod, seeds, and all spices. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, remove, and allow to cool.
Steep mixture for 30 minutes.
While mixture is steeping, beat the eggs and sugar until lightened in colour.
Whisk the milk mixture into the eggs, then add the rum. For a stronger flavour, let the mixture infuse overnight in the fridge.
When ready to serve, strain into glasses and garnish with some ground nutmeg. To turn it into an eggnog punch, add scoops of ice cream and some 7-Up.

Notes

* Substitute with 3 parts milk, 1 part cream if desired ** Substitute with 0.5-1 tsp vanilla bean paste, or extract.

Inspired by this recipe on Jamie Oliver’s website (https://www.jamieoliver.com/news-and-features/features/best-eggnog-recipe/)

MAKING SLOE GIN

acthiessen — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 18:05:00 +0000

Making our own sloe gin | Hello Victoria

Now I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve never been much of a drinker, or if it’s because it’s not very common in Canada, but I had never heard of sloe gin before coming to the UK. Apparently, it’s something that lots of people enjoy around Christmas, as sloes usually ripen in October, and it takes a minimum of 2 months to make sloe gin.

Well, we’re doing things a little differently around here! I actually bought Richard 1lb. (454 g) of sloes on eBay for Christmas! He had been looking to make some in time for the holidays, but couldn’t get any for a reasonable price in the markets. I can’t tell you how fun it was to see him open it on Christmas morning (along with the swing-top bottles), as he had been so confused up until that point. He didn’t understand why his present was living in the freezer…

Making the sloe gin is quite simple, and really only takes time. The sloes are meant to be picked after the first frost, to split their tough skins; as our sloes were frozen since they were picked, their skins had already split, but we pricked them with a toothpick anyway. Simply fill your sterilized bottles with the sloes, as well as a couple spoons of sugar, and fill to the top with gin. Shake up the bottle and store it someplace away from direct sunlight for at least two months; turning it every day for a week, and then every week for at least 2 months.

Now, 454 g of sloes is the right amount to make 1 liter of gin. According to a recipe we found online, the amount of sugar required for 1 liter of gin is 225 grams. We had four 250 ml bottles, which meant we put about 113 g of sloes, and 56 g of sugar in each bottle, and topped it up with the gin.

Or at least that is what my initial calculation was… see the problem? As the bottles only hold 250 ml, the amount of liquid we could add was less than that because of the volume taken up by the sloes, meaning our bottles held more sloes and sugar to the ratio of gin than we originally thought. However, as we decided that 225 g seemed a bit high, we only added 30-35 g of sugar to our bottles, deciding that we could make a simple syrup and add more later if desired (phew!). As this is all an experiment, adjusting the sugar amount in each bottle we test, we even made one bottle using some vanilla sugar I had made a few months ago (by blitzing a dried vanilla bean with sugar). However, if it works out, Richard may be driven nuts trying to recreate it – I have no clue what my ratio of bean to sugar was!

Now, most people make this in the fall, during sloe season, but if you can get your hands on some now, it’s an even better time to make it! The flavor gets stronger with time, so while 2 months is enough to get a decent flavor, 6 months or a year is even better! We’ll open our bottles one at a time, letting the rest get stronger as we go, and we’ll see just how good they get!

Update: all of our bottles taste amazing, but vary a little depending on the sugar and/or vanilla. We eventually strained out the sloes as they had started to disintegrate, and mixed all the different gins together. Now we just have to find new ways to drink them… although straight is always nice!