The weather’s getting colder, and that can only mean one thing! Well, I guess it can mean a lot of things, but one of those is it’s time to drink eggnog!
There are a few different types of eggnog. It can be prepared as a cocktail on the spot by shaking eggs, dairy, and liquor together. It can also be prepared in advance – surprisingly far in advance, actually – as a batched beverage made of whipped egg yolks and sugar, sterilized with booze, and combined with dairy. (As in Alton Brown’s famous recipe.) Or, instead of sterilizing the eggs with liquor, you can actually cook the mixture. This is the kind you’ll find on most store shelves (though I can’t speak to their exact process), and it’s the kind we’ll be making today.
Except without eggs. Or dairy.
I’ve been trying to make vegan eggnog for a few years now; generally only around this time of year, though I’ve been similarly experimenting with ice cream. (Cooked eggnog is actually pretty much just non-frozen ice cream, if slightly more savory.) My earlier attempts involved canned coconut milk & cream, since those have a naturally custard-like texture that’s not unlike the consistency you get when you cook milk, cream, and eggs together. These generally came out pretty good, but also tasted vastly different from actual eggnog. There’s just not much you can do to make coconut taste like plain milk and eggs, unless you cover it with another flavor like chocolate or pumpkin.
The next evolution of this recipe, I have to say, I owe pretty much entirely to Country Crock. Not long ago, they introduced a new product called Plant Cream.
Folks, this has honestly been a game-changer in our allergy-friendly kitchen. I kept my expectations low when it first came out, but when I tried it, I was stunned; even on its own, it tastes almost exactly like heavy cream. There is slightly less of that savory, buttery aftertaste that you get from real dairy, but in most recipes that can easily be compensated for. We’ve used it successfully for whipped cream, creamy pasta sauces, and of course, eggnog.
With this ingredient, it felt like the final piece of the puzzle had finally fallen into place, and I sensed an opportunity to finally make an “Eggless Nog” that would be much closer to the real thing.
CREDIT: official Star Trek account on Twitter/X https://twitter.com/startrek/status/994184904111022082
Removing coconut milk & cream from the equation meant I would have to work a little harder to achieve that custardy texture. In a sense they were filling in not just for the dairy, but a bit of the egginess too. Well, I figured I should try doing what I always do when I need to replace eggs in a non-baked dish – turn to two of the other secret weapons in our allergy-friendly kitchen:
Aquafaba
… and JUST Egg!
Of course, there was no simple one-to-one formula for this substitution. Aquafaba & JUST Egg are used for 2 very different purposes. Aquafaba replaces egg whites, whereas JUST Egg basically replaces scrambled eggs (pre-scrambling). But I figured that by combining those, along with a little bit of corn starch (another common way to compensate for eggs, particularly the yolks), I just might be able to successfully imitate the flavors and textures that eggs contribute to this beverage.
And folks, I do believe I’ve done it. I gotta say, I’m pretty proud of this one. The recipe may look complicated, but if you’ve ever made regular eggnog, the overall gist of it is the same: whisk the eggs a lot, stir the milk a lot, and get it all cooked without letting it curdle.
(And don’t be surprised if you see a very similar recipe for ice cream in the not-too-distant future…)
Eggless Nog
Equipment
- 1 Bottle (at least 750ml)
Ingredients
- 2 cup Non-dairy milk (neutral flavor preferred)
- 1 cup Country Crock Plant Cream
- pinch Salt (table salt)
- ½ tsp Nutmeg (ground)
- 150 g Sugar (plain white, fine ground)
- 1 tbsp Corn starch
- ¼ cup JUST Egg
- 150 ml Aquafaba (liquid from one 15oz can of low-sodium garbanzo beans)
- ¼-½ tsp Vanilla extract (to taste)
Instructions
- Prepare aquafaba (unless you already have some sitting around) by slightly opening a can of garbanzo beans and pouring the liquid into some other container, preferably through a strainer.(You can save the beans in a zipper bag in the fridge for some other use. Hummus, salad, chili…)
- Add non-dairy milk (2 cups), plant cream (1 cup), and a pinch of salt to a saucepan (at least 1.5 Qt). Also add the nutmeg (½ tsp) either here or in the “egg” bowl (see next step), as long as it goes somewhere.
- Add sugar (150g) and corn starch (1 Tbsp) to a mixing bowl, or the bowl of a stand mixer (at least 1.5 Qt). Whisk briefly to combine, just to keep the corn starch from clumping when the liquid gets added later.
- Begin heating the “milk” mixture in the saucepan on medium-high. (On my stove, it’s a 7 on a scale of 1-9 plus “LO” & “HI”.) Stir frequently to make sure it does not overcook and start sticking to the bottom of the pan. DO NOT BOIL!
- While the “milk” mixture is cooking, add aquafaba (150ml) and JUST Egg (¼ cup) to the mixing bowl. Whisk vigorously to combine and get rid of any clumps.(Don’t forget to keep an eye on the “milk” mixture, which should still be heating and being stirred occasionally.)
- Here’s the tricky part. Once the “milk” mixture is generating a decent amount of steam, remove from heat. Gradually pour or ladle it into the mixing bowl where the “egg” mixture is, while whisking the contents of the bowl vigorously. The objective is to gradually introduce the warm milk to the “egg” mixture without accidentally “cooking” it, which would result in a curdled, lumpy texture. (Remember, JUST Egg behaves almost identically to scrambled eggs, by design.) By introducing the hot milk gradually and keeping everything moving so no part of it gets hit with all the heat at once, you prevent that from happening. (You may also occasionally need to stir the “milk” mixture again to make sure that doesn’t overcook either, since the saucepan will still be hot.)
- Once all that’s done, put the saucepan back on the heat (same heat level as before) and pour the whole tempered mixture from the mixing bowl into the saucepan.
- Whisk and/or stir as continuously as you can until the mixture reaches a heat of roughly 160° F, or until it is steaming and/or foaming significantly. (If you choose to whisk it, that alone will probably generate plenty of foam, so a thermometer is the best way to be sure.) I recommend a combination of whisking and using a spoon or spatula to dig down and scrape the “corners” of the saucepan to make sure no mixture is sitting down there, overcooking.
- Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract and stir to combine.
- Taste a small spoonful of the mixture. It should taste pretty good right away, although the texture and flavors will fully develop after chilling. If it seems under-flavored, add another pinch of salt. (Sometimes I find that it doesn’t taste sweet enough at first, but adding salt actually enhances the sweetness. And the vanilla obviously does as well.)
- Allow the mixture to cool, either in the pan or in another container that you know is able to withstand the heat. You will still want to stir it occasionally to make absolutely sure it doesn’t start “cooking” itself again.
- Once the mixture is sufficiently cool to the point that you know you won’t have to stir it anymore, pour it into a bottle.
- Refrigerate and enjoy!
Notes
- Non-Dairy milk –
Try to pick the most neutral flavor you can. Almond milk works great. Oat milk should work well too, though I haven’t tried that as much. It does not have to be “extra creamy” or anything like that – in fact I’ve used ones that are far thinner than I’d like and it still turned out great – but you can certainly go for the extra if you want! - Country Crock Plant Cream –
Until another brand copies them, I’m afraid there’s no substitute for this ingredient. Hopefully you can find it; it’s still pretty new. - JUST Egg –
This could be another hard ingredient to find, unfortunately, but it’s pretty essential. Also, I sometimes go a little over ¼ cup, but ½ is probably too much. - Aquafaba –
The liquid from one 15oz can of garbanzo beans (AKA chickpeas). Make sure the beans are “low sodium” if possible; if you can’t find that, be very careful about the salt in the rest of the recipe. - Vanilla extract –
I personally love vanilla, so I don’t even mind going past ½ tsp here, but do it to taste. This is in the very last step, so you can adjust it as needed. I do think some vanilla is needed here to really make it all come together.
- I usually whisk by hand because it’s kinda fun, but a stand mixer is definitely not a bad idea. (It would’ve made it easier to get pictures too!)
- You’ll probably want to bottle this. A 750ml swing-top bottle is a nice option. You’ll also need a funnel, of course. Also, don’t be too proud to strain the mixture one last time as you’re pouring it in. Even in the best circumstances, you could end up with a few parts that got cooked too much. Straining it will give you the best chance at covering up any mistakes.
