I do not really know my way around the kitchen, so putting together any number of ingredients and putting them through some kind of process is always an adventure for me. However, every once in awhile, I get the desire to try something new. Given that today is Christmas, that I’d like to learn more about making interesting cocktails, and that I found an article in the New York Times about a Butterscotch Scotch Eggnog, I figured I would give it a shot.
Below are some of the early shots of creating this concoction. As I write this, the three main components are sitting in my refrigerator, standing by to transport to a friend’s home for consumption. I’ll try to get more photographs there.
1. The first thing I had to do was create the butterscotch. I didn’t realize this could be done at home, or how simple it is. I was merely following directions when I suddenly realized I was looking at a bowl of butterscotch. This first photo are 12 egg yolks (I separated them first! First time!) and two teaspoons of vanilla.
2. Here, we have a cup of brown sugar on the right, and the alcohol on the left. The alcohol is where I probably made my biggest mistake (but I won’t know for sure for a few more hours). The recipe called for “smoky scotch.” Well, all scotch is smoky, so I figured I should get a Scotch that was smoky by Scotch standards. So I bought Lafroaig, which is notoriously smoky. Probably too smoky. In my prototype last night, the Lafroaig dominated what should be a sweet and creamy drink. So, what we have here is 1/2 cup of Brandy on the right (as the recipe called for), and on the left, a 55/45 mixture of Maker’s Mark whiskey and Lafraoig. I am hoping the Maker’s will dilute the smokiness of the Lafraoig, without killing off Scotch’s unique taste. Since Scotch is a whisky, I figured a Maker’s Mark will retain much of the same type of flavor. We shall see. My friend told me, after I had already mixed the alcohol in, that I shouldn’t add more than a tablespoon of Lafroaig. This could be a disaster!
3. The huge block of brown sugar sitting in the eggs and vanilla. I just thought it looked cool.
4. Same stuff as above, but mixed: the butterscotch. The chemical change just astounds me. I guess this isn’t real butterscotch, as the main ingredients for that are brown sugar and butter, and some cooking is involved. But this certainly tasted butterscotch-y.
After this was completed, I mixed in whole milk and the alcohol. Then I sit the “yolk” component in the freezer.
Second, I whipped the cream until it was nice and solid looking, and placed this “cream” component in the freezer (which I later moved to the refrigerator, because the cream was getting too hard):
Finally, I put a pinch of salt in the bowl of egg-whites, blended them, and slowly poured in four tablespoons of white sugar. Eventually, this became a puffy cloud-like substance, which my brother tells me is meringue:
I placed this “meringue” component in the refrigerator, but as I was writing this I was reading about the chemical process in turning sugar+egg whites into meringue and learned something interesting. Because of the way the molecules are bonded, when they get refrigerated, the meringue becomes soggy. So, I have removed them, which may also be a mistake, but I have no idea.
When we are ready to drink, I’ll combine all three parts and add some nutmeg.
TIME PASSES…..
Many hours later…
Rachael is of the belief that I added too much Laphraoig, and I cannot deny her. She is the expert at these things. The components have had a rough trip and have been sitting idly by for hours. This has caused the meringue to return to a very liquid state: the foam is now resting atop a layer of goo. The cream has also lost form, but that is more easily recovered. We are quite full and ready for a desert at this point, so we figure the current mix is worth a shot, and we can remedy it later.
The following shot is of Rachael combining the ingredients. She is more experienced at this sort of thing than I am, and this mix required saving. She managed to bring the mixture back to a regular meringue state. Her hands are better looking in real life. My phone camera sucks…except of course when you pretend you are from 1872 and realize this is an f-ing CAMERA built into a PHONE.
Victory?! Five prepared Butterscotch Scotch Eggnogs, ready for delivery.
It was interesting that, by volume, the meringue was larger than the yolk component by about a 2:1 ration, although it was much lighter. Also, as you can see from the photos, the nogg was very creamy. I recalled that the recipe mentioned that this might be more easily consumed with a spoon. That was certainly true. I doubt it is possible to drink this.
A close-up: it looks good. That is my beautiful thumb.
Very attractive evidence that consuming this nogg does not lead to immediate expressions of disgust:
A taun-taun, whose name may be Floyd Jr.. We will find out.
Actually, the Butterscotch Scotch Eggnog turned out to be a huge success. We could still taste the Laphroaig, but it wasn’t overpowering. Next time, I would use less Laphroaig, but even our biggest skeptic of the night was running back for more. But once we added in the meringue, cream, and nutmeg, this turned out to be a perfect mix.
Natural Causes 