Vancouver’s Top 10 Eggnog Edibles

Drink your nog—and eat it too. Ten eggnog-inspired treats to satisfy your festive cravings

As everyone in Vancouver knows, the holiday season only really starts the minute that Avalon’s eggnog is released on the market; a deliciously decadent thick and creamy pour of pure noggy goodness, it makes all other commercially available nogs seem somehow Grinch-like in comparison. But drinking eggnog is only one way to enjoy this most festive of flavours. To truly celebrate the season we think you should go beyond ‘nog in a glass’ and seek out nogs that you can chew, bite and lick too.

Put on your stretchy holiday pants because, in no particular order, here are our top 10 edible eggnogs.

Panna Cotta at Grotto, 1725 Davie Street

Newbie to the West End’s dining scene, Grotto (from the fine folk at Buckstop) has whipped up an Italian take on eggnog by switching up the rum for Montenegro Amaro in their noga-cotta. Those traditional-spiced flavours are still there, but kicked up a notch with a subtle coriander note, plenty of fresh-grated nutmeg, and a bright hit of orange zest.

Chocolates at Beta5, 413 Industrial Avenue

These pretty little pearls of sophisticated silvery chocolate gorgeousness from Beta5 are almost too beautiful to eat. Almost. But not quite. Nibble through the incredibly delicate smooth chocolate shell and you’ll be rewarded with a rich eggy kind of nog whipped into a white chocolate ganache with a subtle whisper of Venezuelan dark rum at the end.

Crême Brulée at Crackle Creme, 245 Union Street

You can get your nog brulée to take away at Crackle Creme, Daniel Wong’s excellent dessert cafe on Union Street, or if you can’t wait, dive straight in. This handmade, small-batch delight is whipped up with mascarpone cheese to give it a more creamy texture and infused with vanilla bean, nutmeg, and cinnamon to give it that holiday spice flavour. Oh, and look out for the treat at the bottom of the jar—raisins which have been soaked in rum for three days.

Deconstructed Eggnog Parfait at Perch, 6133 University Boulevard

Chef Gus Stieffenhofer-Brandson over at UBC’s Perch restaurant is continuing to push the culinary boundaries when it comes to dessert. His deconstructed parfait comes complete with a range of tastes and textures: lebkuchen, a German spice cake, crisp crumble, torched meringue, a sweet slick of Tonka bean crème, comforting milk sorbet, and a dash of molecular gastronomy in the form of rum spherification—who knew eggnog could be so fancy?

Crême Brulée at Giardino, 1328 Hornby Street

On special for the holiday season, Giardino’s nog brulée ticks all the ‘holiday treat boxes’, thanks to pastry chef Maria Lauricella’s little extras: crunch into ginger-snap cookies or get bright with winter berries and use them to scoop up that silky smooth spiced rum-spiked brulée with its freshly torched crunchy topping.

Truffles at ChocolaTas, 1669 Johnston Street

These cocoa-rolled truffles from ChocolaTas, Granville Island’s finest, pack a satsfyingly boozy punch into a small package. Recently named Best Artisan Chocolatier and Most Gifted Chocolatier at the International Chocolate Salon in San Francisco, Wim Tas and his team’s satiny-smooth truffles makes for the perfect for the end to any holiday dinner. Or possibly sneaked between courses if the going is getting tough.

Doughnuts at Lucky’s, 2902 Main Street and 2198 West 4th Avenue

Topped with silky smooth swiss meringue, dusted with fine coconut, and filled with a spiced eggnog pastry cream, there’s no way you’re eating Lucky’s adorable fluff of an eggnog snowball and not winding up with a serious case of nog-face. But so worth it. Grab a napkin and power through, because the lightness of the yeasty doughnut plays beautifully with the decadent double whammy of the filling and topping.

Pot de Créme at Oru at the Fairmont Pacific Rim, 1038 Canada Place

Part of Oru’s three-course Christmas lunch menu, this feathery light nog comes topped with dark chocolate flakes, a buttery nutmeg biscotti, and a juicy fresh strawberry. A pleasingly light take on the traditionally heavy flavour, this is a beautifully fresh nog which works wonderfully with the fruit. Abandon the spoon and just scoop it up on the biscotti and berry. Sooooo good.

Pie at Tartine, 770 Beach Avenue and 1069 Davie Street

This is version 2.0 of Tartine’s eggnog pie, the first was a little too sweet and, in the inimitable words of their pastry chef, ‘less nogy than we wanted.’ The all-new version of the Nog Pie uses cream cheese to cut through that sweetness and a good mix of traditional holiday spices: nutmeg, cloves, and vanilla. Add in a good dollop of Kraken spiced dark rum, a little whipped cream to keep things light and you have a wonderful eggnog-y, cheesecake-y pie. It’s finished with a border of cream and cute pastry stars in a buttery crust. Available at both their Davie street and Beach Avenue locations, it serves six generous portions… don’t even think about going solo on this…

Yule Log Cadeaux Bakery, 172 Powell Street

Although it’s only the second year that Cadeaux has done its eggnog log, it’s already becoming a firm customer favourite and one of the most popular holiday-baked items. This snowy version of the traditional yule log is made with a light white sponge cake which is brushed with a Bacardi dark-rum-infused simple syrup and then rolled around a homemade eggnog pastry cream flavoured with nutmeg, cloves, and whole cinnamon sticks. The outside of the log has piped rum-infused butter cream, made with New Zealand butter (trust me, you’ll appreciate the difference!). Decorated with cute holiday motifs, such as snowmen or snow flakes, dreaming of a white Christmas just got more delicious.