Eggnog Done Right: How to Make Vaječný Koňak at Home This Christmas

Milk or heavy cream, eggs, sugar, spices, and something slightly stronger. The combination of ingredients is well-known all over the world.

In the Czech Republic, it’s called vaječný likér, vaječný koňak, ajrkoňak, vaječňák. The rest of the world calls it eggnog, rompope, or koquito.

Eggnog has a rich tradition even in the Czech Republic. Due to the simplicity of preparation and limited possibilities during the communist era, people prepared eggnog at home for many generations.

After 1989, the commercial product range has expanded but eggnog is a beverage that is still created according to inherited family recipes. Various recipes claim they’re ‘the best’, ‘the most simple’, or ‘100% homemade’.

Make your own Eggnog (Vaječný koňak)

• Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl with the vanilla and caster sugar until it forms a light and fluffy foam.
• Heat and stir the milk, cream, vanilla bean seeds, and a pinch of salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan – do not boil, bring just below boiling point (stir constantly to prevent milk skin). You can also put the rest of the vanilla pod in the pot to heat along with the cream mixture (after the mixture can be strained).
• When the cream mixture almost boils, remove the pot from the stove and place it next to the bowl with the egg yolk foam. Very carefully, gradually add a ladleful of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks, whisking on low speed using a hand mixer – this is all about even temperatures, if you pour the hot mixture too quickly and carelessly into the whisked yolks, the whole mixture will curdle (and you don’t want that!). Gradually add more and more liquid and keep whisking until half of the mixture has been put into the egg yolk foam. Pour this egg yolk mixture back in with the rest of the liquid and heat to about 80°C over low heat (and stir) – a thermometer is definitely useful, bHow to Make Vaječný Koňak at Homeut if you haven’t got one, you can do without it. The mixture must not boil but must thicken slightly.
• Now strain the cooked mixture into another container/pot and allow to cool completely, stirring occasionally.
• Add the rum to the cooled mixture, stir, and fill a pre-prepared (sterile) tightly capped glass bottle. Store in a dark, cool place (refrigerator is best). Thanks to the alcohol, the cognac will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

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