Eggnog Gelato

I bought a quart of commercial eggnog for Bill at his request. I asked him if I could use some of it for eggnog ice cream (“That sounds good!”) and went on to investigate recipes that I could adapt with what I had — a few cups of eggnog, about a half cup of heavy whipping cream (leftover from another recipe), plenty of eggs, and various pantry staples.

I found a variety of recipes from which to start:

• Eggnog Ice Cream — Starts with ingredients to create the flavor from scratch but begs the question, should I use alcohol?
• Eggnog Ice Cream — Starts with prepared eggnog instead of making flavor from scratch.
• Dark Chocolate Gelato — Helpful thanks to a gelato base that uses egg yolks.
• Gelato Siliciano — Helpful thanks to a gelato base that uses corn starch.

I decided to go with the following; it worked for me, YMMV. What I wanted was something that kept the eggnog flavor but wasn’t too heavy on it — sometimes I find the taste of eggnog to be too much — and had a rich, creamy texture with a good mouth-feel. I decided to add a little bourbon in an effort to keep the final product less icy in the freezer since the fat content is not so high in the base.

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Eggnog Gelato

3 egg yolks
1/3 c. light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
pinch salt
2 c. eggnog*
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream*
1/2 c. milk*
1 Tbsp. corn starch
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbsp bourbon (or rum or brandy)

1. In a bowl or large measuring cup (which is what I used), mix the eggnog, heavy cream, and milk.

2. In a saucepan whisk the egg yolks. Add the brown sugar and nutmeg, then whisk the whole lot together. Add about 2 cups of the dairy mixture, the pinch of salt, and the corn starch, then whisk that whole lot together.

3. Warm the dairy and egg mixture on the stove over medium low heat and stir regularly. You are making a custard base here with a little extra thickening from the corn starch. Do not let the mixture simmer or even get too hot or else the eggs will scramble. I heated and stirred for about 40 minutes while I did other things in the kitchen and then, getting impatient, I turned the burner up a teensy notch and stirred constantly — it thickened quickly. You want it to be as thick as melted ice cream and leave a clear line when you drag your finger across the back of the spoon/spatula.

4. While the custard is thickening on the stove, add the vanilla extract to the remaining dairy mixture (which is still cold).

5. When the custard is ready, remove from heat and strain** into cold dairy mixture. Mix thoroughly.

6. Chill the ice cream base until it is really cold, at least a few hours but preferably overnight.

7. Immediately before churning, stir in the booze.

8. Churn in your ice cream maker for 20 minutes. You could certainly go longer but I wanted to keep it thick like gelato ergo I didn’t want too much air incorporated. Transfer to a sealed container and ripen in the freezer for several hours (once you have several tastes to ensure that the flavor is acceptable).

Verdict: Success! This is delish. I shared it with two eggnog lovers and they agreed. The bourbon flavor isn’t pronounced but I think the presence of alcohol helped the final texture. It was thick, creamy, smooth, and scoop-able right out of the freezer (i.e., no thawing period necessary).

SPACE

* I had a little under 2 cups eggnog because Bill enjoyed another glass or two before I got to the carton. No biggie — I just made it up with 1% milk, which is the kind we keep on hand. The important part is to have 3 cups total dairy with most of that being eggnog.

** Straining removes any eggs bits that may have scrambled plus any other chunky bits (e.g., chalazae, nutmeg).