When the melodious tune of the chimes in the winter breeze through our ears, we know the time is ripe for us to embellish our Christmas trees. However, the Germans follow a more luscious course of praising the occasion.
When it’s Christmas there, you will often find the locals relishing the “Eierpunsch” or the “Egg punch” as the English folks call it. An alcoholic drink fashioned with eggs. Contrary to the cold serving format of the regular alcoholic drinks, this one is served warm. A cold winter and a mug full of Eierpunsch, now that’s how you go for Christmas.
The Germans have long celebrated the splendid taste of Eierpunsch. It enjoys enormous popularity in the traditional Christmas markets situated in Germany. However, the songs of its praise can be heard all across the country. The fact that it’s served in a mug rather than a wine glass, adds a touch of uniqueness to it. Eierpunsch is no regular beer and stands fairly distinguished from the standard variants of wine, rum and other flavors of alcohol. From its recipe to the format in which it’s served, all separate it from the regular class of liquor.
For those who can’t resist the temptation of this foamy booze, this appetizing drink can be savored by following a rather easy and clear recipe that you can cook right in the convenient corners of your kitchen. So, first things first, let’s list a few necessary ingredients that we will need to brew this one.
A packet of vanilla sugar
bottle of white wine
4 eggs (or 8 egg yolks)
2-4 cloves
A bit of cinnamon
1 lemon
5 tablespoons of sugar
250ml of strong black tea
And with the right mix of patience, we start with our cooking endeavors. Now, with all the ingredients in place, we first –
● Start with preparing the black tea and wait for it to cool down.
● Next, we add 5 tablespoons of sugar to the yolks of our eggs and then mix and beat it vigorously after
adding some cold wine to the mix.
● Now add the vanilla sugar, lemon juice, cinnamon, cloves, black tea you prepared earlier, and the rest of white wine to the mix.
● Transfer the mixture to your desired vessel and heat it gently. The time it begins to boil, take it off the stove.
● Remove the cloves from the mix and serve foamy and hot (in a mug of course).
There you have it. One of the finest liquors in all of Germany, gazing at you from the mug. Although Eierpunsch is a Christmas favorite, the German folks begin to enjoy their warm egg punch from the early November. This egg to the alcohol formula can be immensely enticing to the taste buds of us humans.
However, we would like to share a bit more with you. Well, this time, how about we forge our beloved Eierpunsch with some red wine. The recipe is pretty identical to the last one, but it’s our duty to share. So, let’s list down all the ingredients you will need for this one (also pretty similar) –
A bottle of red wine (obviously)
3-4 eggs (or 6-8 egg yolks, whichever you prefer)
About 5 tablespoons of sugar
One packet of vanilla sugar
Some cinnamon, just like the last one
2-4 cloves, also like the last one
Now, we have all the things we need. We have a fine bottle of red wine, a packet of vanilla sugar, a few eggs and other necessary elements to construct our red wine variant of Eierpunsch. Now, time to walk on the path of the recipe.
So, let’s get cooking –
● Time to beat some eggs folks! So, whisk those 5 tablespoons of sugar into the eggs or egg yolks, depending on the one you chose and add a little cold red wine. Now, whip this mixture of eggs, sugar, and red wine in a vigorous fashion.
● Next, you add the vanilla sugar to the mix. With this, make sure the vanilla sugar blends in properly with the mixture.
● Now, comes the most challenging part that requires some serious coordination over taste and desires. You need to add the remainder of the red wine (If you haven’t gulped it down already) and heat it with some cinnamon, cloves, and lemon juice. Was tough, right? Yeah, even we had trouble resisting that wine flavor.
● Finally, we reach the final segment of our little wine cooking adventure. Here, you need to get own to the boiling business. Just like in our previous recipe, here too you must remove the pot from the heat before it comes to a boil or it will spoil the Eierpunsch. Strain and let cool a bit.
● Serve hot and foamy in a mug (of course)
So, that was our trick with the red wine right there. It may be greatly identical to the white wine version of Eierpunsch, but these two recipes are not wholly alike. The major point of differentiation between the two is the taste of the end product. A white wine Eierpunsch may have a slightly unique taste than its red-wine counterpart.
Well, in the end, it’s the taste that matters.
So, with this, we reach the end of our recipe guide. Here, we held the topic of brewing an appetizing Eierpunsch. We learned not one, but two different (okay, not that different) recipes for making Germany's answer to Eggnog. It might be a bit surprising that such a tasteful alcoholic beverage requires so little effort. Plus, all the ingredients necessary for forging an Eierpunsch are so easily available. So, this all makes it fairly convenient for someone who fancies a warm mug of Eierpunsch during those icy winters.
As they rightly say, Germany is the holy paradise of alcohol. Preparing a savory drink with a handful of ingredients deserves a genuine applause. So, it’s time to promise ourselves to treat our taste buds with the fine taste of Eierpunsch during our fated journey to Germany, when those Christmas chimes ring again.