This recipe makes enough egg nog to soak half a 9 x 13 inch cake. It is adapted from Texas Home Cooking. Egg Nog (with cooked eggs) is essentially a thin custard, and the key issue with all custards is not to get the mixture too hot since you do not want to create sweet scrambled eggs. A BBC website confirmed that the right top temperature for the custard is 180-185 degrees, which is the same target temperature when I am heating milk before turning it into yogurt. This version thickened nicely, with no scrambled eggs.
3/8 cup sugar
½ Tbs. cornstarch
Pinch of salt
1 egg plus 1 yolk
1-3/4 cups whole milk
¼ cup whipping cream
½ tsp. vanilla
¼ cup bourbon (optional)
Grated nutmeg (optional)
In a small saucepan mix together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Then mix in the egg, egg yolk, milk, and cream, and mix well. Insert a cooking thermometer, and cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently with a whisk. When the mixture gets to 180-185 degrees, it should have thickened enough to coat a spoon well. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and optional bourbon and optional grated nutmeg.