Monday, December 09, 2013

gingery eggnog with chai tea ice balls, and a giveaway from Safest Choice Eggs!



Eggnog is one of the Holiday Season's perfect symbols. It represents tradition, excess, warm spices, sharing, the white of the snow, the rich embrace of family and friends. It's a treat usually only enjoyed around Christmas, when people are more willing to get a bit gluttonous. Some people don't like eggnog, but it's usually not the flavors they are put off by... it's the thick texture or the fact that it contains raw eggs. Well, Safest Choice Eggs solves the latter. They are carefully pasteurized to be perfectly safe to consume raw or undercooked.

This post is sponsored by Safest Choice Eggs.
I'm excited to be participating in the Safest Choice Eggnog Party... check out this blog post with all the other bloggers who are participating and see what else you can do with eggnog. Oh, and they are also giving away 2 super-big prize packages. Enter using the widget at the end of this post!



I don't like when my eggnog gets warm... because then it's kind of like drinking cake batter. But ice in eggnog would be gross. Well, unless it was ice that was flavored so as not to water down the creamy beverage. But flavored how? The answer is so simple it's stupid... Chai Tea. Some of the spices in chai are also in traditional eggnog, and those that aren't should be. So, I brewed up some chai tea (from bags... use your favorite, but I'm not sure greet tea chai would taste as good as the black tea chai I used) and froze it in my handy dandy Ice Ball tray. I got the tray at the Maker's Mark Distillery in Louisville. You can use normal Ice cube trays, of course, but, you know, BALLS.


For the eggnog itself I added more ginger flavor to further that Chai taste. To do this I used some Big O Ginger Liqueur. Yes, I have posted about this glorious liquid before, several times. It's a craft liqueur made right here in St. Louis. If you don't have access to it, try adding a Tablespoon or so of gingerbread syrup to your eggnog.

Gingery Eggnog with Chai Tea Ice 
-6 yolks from Safest Choice Eggs
-2/3 cups raw sugar
-16 oz. heavy cream
-16 oz. milk (2% worked fine for me)
-1 cup Ginger Liqueur
-1 cup spiced rum
-1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
-1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
-1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
-1/8 teaspoon cardamom
-freshly grated nutmeg to serve
-chai tea ice cubes to serve (brew chai tea, freeze in trays) 
In a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, mix the egg yolks on medium until mixed. Add the sugar and mix until lighter in color and creamy. Gradually add the cream and milk and mix until well-Incorporated. Add the booze and spices and mix until everything is combined well. Refrigerate until well-chilled. Serve in a small glass with 1 Chai Ice ball or 2 or 3 chai cubes. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Glub Glub.

Now about that giveaway... go get you some!