It’s big, it’s boozy, it’s brilliant. Robert said the following of his very Christmassy tipple, “This recipe will make five quarts. I make no apology for the excessive quantity on the theory that only a dope would go to the trouble for less.” Five quarts is almost 5 litres. But rather than be considered a dope by Robert, five quarts it was.
This will be a quick post as I want to get this out in time for Christmas, just in case you are having some kind of gathering where 5 quarts of eggnog could be consumed. I heartily recommend grating some nutmeg over the whole shebang and also, on individual helpings if you don’t get too drunk to do so…
I had 15 people at my Robert Mitchum Eggnog Party, and luckily, one of those was my chum Cathy. I had planned lots of Joan Crawford canapés to accompany the eggnog, and Cathy did at least ½ of the work, including constructing the eggnog. Here she is having a taster before folding in the egg whites
and here she is, attempting to fold them in.
Some people only wanted a tiny taster – here’s Lady Jane having eggnog in an egg cup,
but in the end, I reckon about 2 and a half litres of eggnog was consumed in larger helpings or taken home in Tupperware…
I decanted what was left into bottles and had a few swigs over the weekend.
then I froze the rest to make eggnog ice cream (I was very pleased with myself when I thought of that), and it is very nice, too. I’m saving some for serving alongside Christmas pudding for sure.
Was this a hit? YES! Would I do it again? Yes! Bravo, Mr Mitchum!
Eggnog is having a bit of a “thing” here in the UK at the moment. As I was nursing my hangover the day after consuming quite a lot of Robert’s eggnog, I opened the Guardian Feast to see Ottolengi’s recipe for Avocaat on the very first page and found that the ingredients were super similar to Robert’s eggnog.
Plus, I demonstrated how to make a Snowball cocktail (the British variation on eggnog, I reckon) for my Dinner and a Movie subscribers,earlier this month.
Last but not least, my cocktail hero Richard Godwin wrote about eggnog in The Spirits this week – his recipe serves 2, so if you don’t want 5 litres of eggnog knocking around, try Richard’s version.
If you are game though, here’s Robert’s…
Robert Mitchum’s Eggnog Recipe
- 12 egg yolks
- 1 pound confectioner’s sugar
- 1 quart rum, brandy or whiskey
- 2 quarts cream
- 1 quart milk
- 12 egg whites
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Beat egg yolks and confectioner’s sugar together in a large bowl. Beat in the rum, brandy or whiskey. Add cream and milk. In a separate bowl, beat egg whites with salt until stiff but not dry. Fold this mixture into the liquid. Chill.
Serves 20.
