Eggnog vs. Ice Cream

Eggnog: ice cream in disguise!

Why do some people hate eggnog? 

Because they don't know that it's nothing more than melted ice cream with nutmeg on top, and if you're lucky, a stiff pour of bourbon.

Allow me to demonstrate.

I've rearranged the order of the ingredients below to show how similar eggnog and ice cream are.

Eggnog

Ingredients to make 6 to 7 cups eggnog using Alton Brown's eggnog recipe from Foodnetwork:

• 1 pint whole milk
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 1/3 cup sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
• 4 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 3 ounces bourbon

Ice Cream

Ingredients to make 1 quart ice cream (using David Lebovit's vanilla ice cream recipe, which is itself adapted from The Perfect Scoop):

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch salt
• 1 vanilla bean
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

The next time someone tells you she hates eggnog, ask her how she feels about ice cream.

And if you're entertaining this holiday season and forget the eggnog or the grocery store runs out of it, just buy a half gallon of vanilla ice cream, dump it into a bowl, and let it melt in the refrigerator. Then grate some nutmeg on top, hit it with a shot of bourbon or whiskey, and consider your holiday drinking obligations met.