Icing and Eggnog

Posted on | Sunday, November 28, 2010 | 4 Comments

Alex left this morning, which is always difficult for us. Although we value the time we spend together it always goes by far too quickly. On the bright side it will be only three weeks before our next visit (in Las Vegas no less!), and by that time Alex will be a college graduate. Yay!

I meant to blog about our icing (and eating) cookies, and making old-fashioned eggnog yesterday. But somehow the day ended before I had downloaded a single picture. Whoopsie.

This was my first try at making icing. Most recipes called for corn syrup in addition to the powdered sugar, milk and food coloring. As I didn't have corn syrup on hand we forged ahead with the more traditional recipe (or perhaps just the lazier recipe?). It turned out alright, although getting the perfect consistency was a challenge. If I make icing again I will try adding the corn syrup and see if it makes any difference.

Kael was extremely excited at the prospect of mixing the dye into the icing. We ended up making red, blue, yellow and green icing colors. Although in hindsight we should have halved the recipe to accommodate for the number of cookies, we made enough to coat about three times the amount that had been baked.

Mix mix mix!! Kael loved being an active participant in the kitchen. A lot of the meals and various baked goods I make aren't very kid-friendly (hot stoves, sharp knives, precise measurements) so it was nice to have him involved and enjoying it.

It's time to ice the cookies! Someone is excited!

A perfect Kael cookie creation, sprinkles included!

Alex and I joined in the cookie decorating. When we go to Las Vegas next month my Grandma is making her special sugar cookies and having everyone help decorate them, we gotta brush up on our skills!

The hardest part is having to wait for the icing to harden. It gave us ample time to think up ideas for using all our extra icing. Like I said before, there was a lot of it.

Finally the cookies are ready to eat! Kael is exited about eating his creation.

A quick taste test from Alex. And the verdict is...

Super duper delicious! I packed a box of cookies for Alex to take home with him today, although there is a possibility of them all being eaten before he reaches his destination. All the more reason to practice and make more.

That evening Alex and I endeavored to make old-fashioned eggnog. You see, I love eggnog. It's one of the things about the Christmas season that I really enjoy. Needless to say the idea of making my own eggnog had me bounding across the room with glee. After a quick Google search it became obvious that although all recipes required close to the same ingredients there were large variations in technique and measurements. Whole milk or heavy cream? Temper the eggs or leave them raw? (Yech) I finally settled on an amalgamation of the Alton Brown recipe and a recipe from Epicurious which required tempering the egg yolks and adding a healthy splash of rum and bourbon.

The first thing to be gone is separate the eggs and whip the egg yolks until they turn a wonderful sunshine yellow, and slowly add the sugar until it's fully incorporated.

Don't forget to add the booze! Old fashioned eggnog and various forms of distilled alcohol tend to go hand in hand. I added about half a cup each of rum and bourbon (although some recipes required substantially more, and others required none). Blend well and then set the bowl aside in the fridge.

Milk was a tricky element to this recipe. I had read about recipes using whole milk, skim milk, half and half, heavy cream, and any mixture in-between for the dairy aspect of eggnog. Upon further research I found that most of the older recipes used heavy cream versus milk, and wanting to adhere to tradition (and forgo any semblance of a waistline) I went with heavy cream.

Add in the nutmeg and stir occasionally while on high heat until the milk just begins to bubble. Take the pan off the heat and bring out the bowl of egg mixture.

Now is the tricky part. Temper the egg mixture and stir, stir, stir. As many remember I have problems with tempering eggs and usually require adult supervision lest I create glorified scrambled eggs. Not this time! I tempered like a domestic goddess.

Although Alex many not have been an avid lover of eggnog he did at least risk a sip or three before setting his cup down. It shouldn't surprise anyone that my cup on the other hand was thoroughly emptied. I might have another cup (or two) tonight as well.

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