cormorantUnless you’re American, it’s hard to sell eggnog. With alcohol in it, eggnog is often spiked with some degree of brown spirit, which makes things even less appealing. It may be. After all, what is eggnog if it’s not some weird kind of custard? And what is custard, if not a badly used recipe ingredient? Forget I want you to eat this year. Method is as follows.
Eggnog creme brulee cheesecake
I’ve mentioned Liam Charles’ Eggnog Creme Brulee Cheesecake before, but I’ll repeat it because it deserves as much attention as possible. Of course, eggnog belongs to cheesecake – it’s cream and eggs and it’s always baked to perfection – and the nutmeg here automatically makes it more Christmasy. You can easily offer this to naysayers, but they are unwise.
eggnog ice cream
What else can you do with custard? That’s right, freeze it to make ice cream. Taste of Home’s no-stir eggnog soft serve is not only delicious, it’s the easiest to make in the world. You need eggnog. Mix it with more cream, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg, freeze overnight and you’re done. It’s worth pointing out that this recipe also calls for rum (alcohol, usually brandy, an implicit addition in most Nog recipes), but it serves an important secondary purpose here, ice cream. It helps to freeze more softly.
eggnog french toast

Now that you’re under Nog’s spell, you might as well start making breakfast with all your might. Yummly’s Eggnog French Let’s start a little conservatively with his toast recipe. If you know how to make French toast, you also know how to make this. The only difference is soaking the bread in eggnog before cooking. Simple.
eggnog porridge
French toast was truly a gateway recipe. Because as soon as the idea of breakfast nog stops being loathsome, you can move on to the real test: eggnog porridge.A Taste of Madness recipe is as quick and easy as you like. Put the eggnog in a pot, add the porridge oats, heat until thickened, and Bob becomes Uncle. Is it tasty? yes. Does it contain alcohol? No, because you haven’t hit that personal low yet. Can you see your own face while you’re eating? That’s a whole other matter.
eggnog sweet potato pie
One more odd thing and I’ll guide you back to the safe area. You already have an opinion about sweet potato pie (“That sounds normal” or “Christ is alive, so why do you hate me?”, depending on how Americans are), but Here’s the New York Times eggnog his sweet potato pie recipe: Worth a punt actually. Believe it or not, these two ingredients actually work amazingly well. That’s incredible? fine.
eggnog caramel brownie
The LA Times has a recipe for Eggnog Caramel Brownies. This is actually a bit of a cheat. Basically you make some regular brownies and then make a caramel sauce with all the eggnog ingredients. My guess is that if you make any of these recipes, it will be this one.
eggnog cookies
Nog can also be used in biscuits, as Preppy Kitchen’s Eggnog Cookies recipe amply demonstrates. Especially since eggnog cookies are known to be relatively frugal (as far as cookie recipes are concerned). No chocolate. No large amounts of fudge. A nice, lightly spiced vanilla cookie like your mom used to make.

eggnog bread pudding
I know The Pioneer Woman’s eggnog bread pudding recipe is basically a slightly more dessert version of the above eggnog French toast, but I stand by it. Add raisins to this.
Lamb and eggnog bundt cake
Of course, you can also use eggnog to make a cake. Bundt is always recommended here. Partly because it works well with excess moisture, but mostly because bunts are inherently Christmasy, and Liv for Cake’s rum and eggnog bunt recipe lives up to its name with a lovely spice. It was his vanilla cake. You’ll want to pull this out of the oven just before your guests arrive for maximum impact.
eggnog trifle
Finally, reach out across the ocean to pair the weirdest American drink with the weirdest British pudding. Courtesy of My Food Book. Eggnog works brilliantly here. Because (as you already know), it’s basically just custard, so it blends perfectly with fruit and cream. Please don’t write me – I know how you feel.