Tis the season for crema de vie! Crema de vie is the Cuban equivalent of American eggnog and it is absolutely delicious. It's always enjoyed during the holidays and particularly during Noche Buena.
Crema de vie translates to "cream of life" and when the weather dips down, this drink is the perfect life savor.
Why you'll love it
- Easy to make and ready in 10 minutes.
- Great for any holiday party or to bring to your Noche Buena gathering.
- Easily customized.
- Great to give as a gift.
What equipment will you need to make this?
You'll need a blender and a glass container for storage.
Ingredients
- Pasteurized egg yolks
- Condensed milk
- Evaporated milk
- Sugar
- Water
- Cinnamon stick
- Vanilla extract
- Salt
- Aged Rum
Instructions to make crema de vie
Start by making the cinnamon simple syrup. Place the sugar, water and cinnamon stick in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar dissolves remove from the heat and set aside.
While the cinnamon syrup is cooking. Place your condensed milk and egg yolks into the blender and blend at high speed for 2 minutes.
Slowly add in the evaporated milk, salt and vanilla extract to the blender while the blender continues at high speed. Blend for about 1 minute until everything is well combined.
Begin to slowly temper into the blender the cinnamon simple syrup about ¼ cup at a time. Pour all of it it in very slowly while the blender continues to spin. At this time lower the speed of the blender by half.
Lastly, add in your rum to the blender. Allow to blend for about another minute to make sure it's well combined.
Then strain the Cuban eggnog using a large mesh strainer to get out any little clumps that didn’t break down.
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. If you can refrigerate overnight, it’ll taste even better.
Once ready to serve, garnish your glass with a cinnamon sugar rim.
Pour in your crema de vie and add a little additional cinnamon or nutmeg as a garnish.
Is Crema De Vie safe to drink?
Because crema de vie is made with egg yolks, this question does come up at times. Adding the hot cinnamon simple syrup does cook the eggs in the liquid. Additionally, please be sure to use pasteurized eggs when making this recipe. Lastly, the additional of alcohol inhibits any bacterial growth in this Cuban egg-nog. All of this to say that crema de vie is safe to drink!
Variations/Substitutions
For my vegan and dairy free friends, feel free to swap out the regular evaporated and condensed milks for coconut evaporated milk. This simple swap will give you a dairy free crema de vie
Don't like aged rum or ron añejo? Opt instead of a clear rum instead.
Make this a kid friendly crema de vie by simply omitting the rum.
Storage
Store this in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up-to 1 week,
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Crema de Vie
Equipment
- 1 blender
Ingredients
- 4 Pasteurized egg yolks
- 1 can Sweetened condensed milk
- 1 can Evaporated milk
- 1 cup Granulated white sugar
- 1 cup Water
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 1 ½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Aged Rum
- Cinnamon sugar garnish
Instructions
- Start by making the cinnamon simple syrup. Place the sugar, water and cinnamon stick in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Stirring occasionally until the sugar dissolves. Once the sugar dissolves remove from the heat and set aside.
- While the cinnamon syrup is cooking. Place your condensed milk and egg yolks into the blender and blend at high speed for 2 minutes.
- Slowly add in the evaporated milk, salt and vanilla extract to the blender while the blender continues at high speed. Blend for about 1 minute until everything is well combined.
- Begin to slowly temper into the blender the cinnamon simple syrup about ¼ cup at a time. Pour all of it it in very slowly while the blender continues to spin. At this time lower the speed of the blender by half.
- Lastly, add in your rum to the blender. Allow to blend for about another minute to make sure it's well combined.
- Then strain the Cuban eggnog using a large mesh strainer to get out any little clumps that didn’t break down.
- Refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. If you can refrigerate overnight, it’ll taste even better.
- Once ready to serve, garnish your glass with a cinnamon sugar rim. Pour in your crema de vie and top with a little additional cinnamon or nutmeg as a garnish
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