Golden Epiphany Eggnog- A Symbolic Liturgical Recipe (2024)

The Epiphany is 12 days after Christmas and is the day that the 3 kings arrived to visit Baby Jesus. Many families celebrate Christmas all the way through the Epiphany and it’s a really great way to keep the Christmas season going! Our family loves to celebrate the liturgical year and you can find all of my resources for celebrating the Epiphany with kids here. There are many ways to enjoy this feast day, but today I want to share a special Golden Epiphany Eggnog recipe with you! It’s full of symbolism and a fun Christmas treat. I hope your family enjoys it as much as mine does.

The Epiphany happens 12 days after Christmas, which is January 6. In the Catholic church it is a feast day, and the church moves the feast of the Epiphany to the closest Sunday. So if you’re looking on a Liturgical calendar, you may find the Epiphany on a different day. It is totally fine to celebrate the Epiphany either on the Sunday it is moved to, or on the traditional January 6. Many families choose to keep it on January 6 so they get the full 12 days of Christmas beforehand. The 25th is considered the 1st day of Christmas, so January 5 becomes the 12th day of Christmas, and the Epiphany traditionally follows on the 6th.

This eggnog recipe is perfect for your celebrations and full of symbolism for the Epiphany. I am so excited to share this liturgical recipe with you today!

Ingredients Needed For Golden Epiphany Eggnog:

• 1 quart of prepared eggnog
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 16-ounce container frozen orange juice (thawed)
• ground nutmeg
• orange zest from one orange
• cinnamon sticks or ground cinnamon

How To Make Epiphany Eggnog

Take your eggnog, orange juice, and milk, and combine all 3 in a large pitcher. Stir all of these together until they’re thoroughly blended and put it in the refrigerator for several hours to give all the flavors time to combine.

When you’re ready to serve the eggnog, pour it into small glasses. Extra bonus points if you have anything festive like our little set of Christmas tea cups! This is also beautiful in small clear glass cups so you can see the golden color of the orange eggnog.

Now you need to zest your orange. Take an orange and wash the outside well. Use that tiny part on your cheese grater that you probably don’t get too much use out of. Use it to grate the peel on the outside of your orange all the way around, getting all the good color off of it.

Now comes the learning part! Sprinkle each cup of your orange eggnog with orange zest, ground nutmeg, and then either ground cinnamon or add a cinnamon stick for extra flair.

Epiphany Recipe Symbolism

• The oranges and orange zest represents the gold brought by the first king to baby Jesus. We also use oranges to symbolize gold on St. Nicholas day, so this is perfect! Plus, the orange juice concentrate in the eggnog gives the whole cup an overall golden color.
• The nutmeg represents the frankincense brought by the second king.
• The ground cinnamon or cinnamon stick represents the myrrh brought by the third king.

This golden eggnog recipe serves up to 16 depending on the size of your glass. If you’re looking for something to serve with your golden eggnog, may I suggest this recipe for 12th night cake from Catholic Culture?

Also, this great Epiphany drink pairs perfect with my star shaped Epiphany sandwiches for kids, so be sure to check that out!

I hope your family enjoys this Epiphany recipe as much as our family does! Be sure to check out my other resources for celebrating the Epiphany with your kids. That post has books, songs, more recipes, craft ideas, and more. God bless!

Golden Epiphany Eggnog Printable Recipe