We start by adding the milk and half the heavy cream to a sauce pot, pour in the vanilla, add the spices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 mins on low.

In the mean time, in a mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until frothy and doubled in volume. Take your time with this step as we want to dissolve the sugar as much as possible.

Once it is creamy and frothy, pour a little of the milk into the egg yolk mixture and and whisk well. Add little more of the milk and whisk again. We are essentially tempering the eggs before we place it on the stove.

Once you have added all the milk mixture to the eggs, transfer the liquid back into the sauce pot and place on low heat. Cook this until it starts to thicken, around 5-8 mins. Stir it constantly to ensure there are no lumps and the egg yolks don’t scramble.

Take off the heat, add the remaining cream, salt, alcohol and stir well. Strain into a glass jug, cover and let this sit for a couple hours in the fridge. It is best served chilled with biscotti or some whipped cream.