Spiced Orange Eggnog
Do you know what eggnog is? Aside from that it's a sweet Christmassy drink, I'm not sure I did. In a recent survey Waitrose Cellar found that 96% of people don't actually know, so I don't feel too ignorant.
Essentially, eggnog is a egg based drink blended with cream, sugar, alcohol and spice and I promise it is much much nicer than it sounds. Also - it's not even American, which seems to be an overriding misconception: it originates from East Anglia. Who knew?
Anyway, Waitrose Cellar are big on eggnog this year. They have this basic recipe available on their website and challenged me to put my own spin on it, so I did. Here it is...
Ingredients:
(Serves 2-3)
150ml whipping cream
200ml whole milk
2 eggs, separated
1 clementine
3 tbsp sugar
100ml Grand Marnier
A dash of Cuarenta y Tres aka Licor 43
Ground cinnamon
Method:
In a jug, whisk together the egg yolks and two tablespoons of sugar. I used burford brown eggs, because I'm in love with the deep orange colour of the yolks. Look: #nofilter
Whisk until they look like this:
Now, slowly add the Grand Marnier and the 43, whisking throughout. Now, the milk.
Next you need to whisk up the egg whites in a separate bowl. Make sure there isn't even a smidgen of yolk or any other kind of fat or they won't work. Whisk to the soft peak stage, like this:
Gently fold in to the egg / alcohol mixture taking care not to knock the air out of the whites.
To garnish, I made a little syrup in a pan using the juice of 1/2 a clementine, the rest of the sugar and lots of cinnamon. Then I dropped a couple of slices of clementine in to caramelise and drape over the glass. You can stir any extra syrup in to the eggnog. Finish with a dusting of ground cinnamon and voila! So indulgent, its practically pudding.
Thanks Waitrose Cellar for introducing me to the joy of eggnog! I'll be enjoying a few of these until I can't do my jeans up.
http://www.waitrosecellar.com/christmas-drinks
*Waitrose Cellar paid for my ingredients, as they're nice like that