Orange Spiced Eggnog Recipe | A Cup of Christmas Cheer

Nostalgic Holiday Foods

I have always been in love with holiday food.

As a kid, while I was always happy to be going to visit Ev and Ray in New Jersey for the holidays, I was maybe a bit more excited by the promise of Auntie Ev’s English trifle, which is still one of my favorite desserts to this day.

As we made the 3-doors-down walk to Queenie and Ivan’s house for the annual Christmas Eve party, our breath pluming in the cold December air, my mind was already racing ahead, up the stairs and around the corner to the dining room table to feast on poppy seed party ham biscuits, a port wine cheese ball, and cream cheese and red sauce.

A holiday staple in my childhood home from Thanksgiving through the New Year was eggnog.

Sweet, creamy, nutmeggy and comforting, I couldn’t get enough. When mom finally brought some home from her grocery shopping trips, we knew that the holiday season had officially begun.

Boozy Eggnog

Oddly enough, I was never really a fan of spiked eggnog. I guess I just loved it straight up so much that I thought boozing it up just cut into the creamy goodness. Bless my heart, I was a naive little thing.

Probably about ten or twelve years ago, Julie’s husband Scott began making homemade eggnog every year for the Christmas party they inherited hosting duties from Julie’s parents.

Suddenly it dawned on me that shoving booze into eggnog is a very good idea indeed. Shove enough booze into eggnog, and you can age it from one year to the next.

I’m not really interested in that, because I’m all about drinking the eggnog as quickly as I can. I can barely wait the 24 hours it takes for the flavors to blend in the fridge.

If you are looking for a great aged eggnog recipe, you can’t do much better than the one from Nutmeg Nanny.

Orange Spiced Eggnog

Since this holiday season seems to be dedicated to all things orange (hello there, No Bake Orange Cranberry Cheesecake Parfaits and Cranberry Fool with Grand Marnier Whipped Cream), I figured I’d try something a bit new with homemade eggnog: orange spiced eggnog.

Of course, as always, there is nothing new under the sun. There are lots of other recipes out there for an orange spice eggnog, but I don’t care.

The recipe I came up with is pretty straightforward with only a few spices and two types of alcohol that nicely reinforce the orange spiced theme.

How to Make Orange Spice Eggnog

This eggnog comes together pretty easily. The ingredient list looks a little long, but nothing is hard to find. You may already have a lot of the ingredients you need.

Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to gather for Eggnog Making.

• whole milk
• heavy cream
• granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• cinnamon sticks
• whole cloves
• whole allspice berries
• orange zest
• eggs
• egg yolks
• spiced rum, (I used Captain Morgan’s)
• orange liqueur, (I recommend Cointreau for its pronounced candied orange peel flavor)

As far as the spices go, you can leave out what you don’t like and use more of what you do. There are no hard and fast rules.

Procedure

The first step in making eggnog is all about infusing the flavors of the spices and zest into the dairy. Once you have that done, you can add in the eggs and cook until thickened.

Refrigerate for at least 24 hours so the flavors can mingle and get to know each other. Before serving, stir in the alcohol, whip the cream and fold that in, and enjoy!

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Holiday Printable Recipe Card

Simply click on the card to get a pdf you can download and keep in your holiday recipe box.

I made you three different kinds of blank printable holiday recipe cards, so please use them!

Orange Spiced Eggnog Recipe

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Jennifer Field

This orange spice eggnog is spiced with allspice, cinnamon and clove. The flavor profile gets some reinforcement with the addition of spiced rum and orange liqueur

4.75 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Beverages

Cuisine British

Servings 1 1/2 quarts

Calories 353 kcal

Equipment

• 3-Quart Saucepan
• OXO Balloon Whisk
• Spode Christmas Tree Glass Pitcher

Ingredients

1x2x3x

• 24 oz 3 cups whole milk
• 8 oz 1 cup heavy cream
• 7 oz 1 cup granulated sugar
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
• 3 cinnamon sticks
• 3-5 whole cloves (depending on how much you like clove. You can also leave it out if you want)
• 5-7 whole allspice berries
• zest of 1 orange
• 2 whole eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• ¾ cup spiced rum (I used Captain Morgan’s)
• ¼ cup orange liqueur (I recommend Cointreau for its pronounced candied orange peel flavor)
• 8 oz 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Instructions

 

• Heat milk, the first amount of cream, sugar, salt. spices, and zest over medium heat until very warm. Remove from heat and let steep for 30 minutes. Taste, and decide if you want the spices to steep a bit more or not. Your call. When you like the flavor of your milk base, strain out the spices and the zest and return the milk to the pot. Whisk in the eggs and yolks and heat, whisking constantly until steaming and slightly thickened, 165F on an instant read thermometer. Strain again to get out any stray bits of cooked egg and then stir in the spiced rum and orange liqueur.
• Cover and refrigerate for at least 24 hours or up to 3 days.
• When ready to serve, whip the second amount of whipping cream to soft peaks and whisk into the eggnog. Serve cold, and garnish with a bit of grated nutmeg. I also sift on a bit of apple pie spice since it contains cinnamon and allspice already.
• Enjoy!

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Nutrition

Serving: 6ozCalories: 353kcalCarbohydrates: 30.8gProtein: 6gFat: 16.9gSaturated Fat: 9.6gCholesterol: 170mgSodium: 141mgFiber: 0.3gSugar: 30g

Keyword boozy eggnog, orange spice eggnog, spiced eggnog

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Thank you for spending some time with me today. May your holiday be full of good cheer and plenty of spiced eggnog!

Take care, and have a lovely day.