I love to find recipes from unlikely sources, but I never expected to find one on NPR’s Science Friday. If you’ve always wanted to make spiked eggnog, but you were afraid of wiping out your family with salmonella, do I have the recipe for you! The lab at The Rockefeller University has been making this recipe for forty years with happy results. Before embarking on your eggnog journey, please take a couple of minutes to review the video below.

You will need to get started soon if you want to serve this by Christmas or New Year’s Eve. The most important thing to remember is to give this eggnog three weeks to sit refrigerated before drinking. I know the original recipe below says two to three weeks, but the experiment posted above shows it 100% bacteria-free by week three, so let’s err on the side of caution, shall we? And moderation, of course. Cheers, friends!

1 dozen eggs

1 quart heavy cream

1 quart light cream

1 pint bourbon

1 quart rum

nutmeg

1/2 to 3/4 pound sugar

Beat eggs, add bourbon and rum slowly with stirring to prevent precipitation of egg proteins. Beat heavy cream separately until it peaks and add to the egg/bourbon/rum mix.

Add the light cream with stirring. Add the sugar, then add nutmeg to taste.

Leave standing overnight with lid slightly ajar in refrigerator, then seal with plastic or lid completely.  After three weeks, strain to remove any egg solids, then serve.

NOTE: If you are looking for an eggnog that has less of a kick (but why would you?) Cook’s Illustrated suggests following the recipe below and adding the cream right before serving:

Cook’s Illustrated Eggnog December 2013

1 dozen eggs
1 1/2 cups bourbon
1/2 cup cognac
1/2 cup dark rum
1 1/2 cup sugar
Refrigerate above in airtight container for three weeks, then strain. This mixture contains 18% alcohol.

Add to above mixture:
6 cups whole milk
1/2 cup cream

The mixture now contains 8% alcohol, according to Cook’s Illustrated. Their rule of thumb is to that for every egg, use 1 1/2 ounces of 80 proof liquor and leave out the dairy until serving time.