When it comes to eggnog, we are a house divided. I (Tara) absolutely love eggnog, while Ami can hardly even stand the smell let alone the taste. It’s safe to say that Ami kept her distance while this cake was being made ;). This has been a flavor I have been wanting to make for some time. From a very young age eggnog was always one of my favorite things about the holiday season, so it only made sense that we make a cake to embody that.
We wanted to go for a spiced eggnog flavor for both the cake and buttercream so it was essential that we added in nutmeg and cinnamon. Other spices that you can incorporate are ground cloves, all spice and pumpkin pie spice. Another essential indigent in eggnog during the holiday is alcohol, its not the holidays without some spiked eggnog. Since we were making both the cake and the buttercream with a spiced eggnog flavor we wanted to spice one of them up, therefor, we decided to substituted the vanilla extract for rum extract in the buttercream. We are beyond pleased with how it turned out. I could eat this buttercream all day……ok I did…….Ami not so much!
The eggnog and spices give the buttercream a nice speckled cream color. We wanted to keep the design of the cake simple so we decided to do a tone on tone snowflake stencil. When adding stencils to a cake first create a smooth buttercream finish on the cake. You will then need to put the cake in the freezer for about 30 min to make sure the frosting is hard. If you don’t have room in your freezer you can put it in the refrigerator for at least an hour. You want to make sure the frosting is stiff to the touch so when you place the stencil on the cake you don’t indent or smash it. Gently hold the stencil against the cake and spread the buttercream over the top. Once the whole stencil is covered take a frosting scrapper and smooth out. Once complete slowly peal off the stencil.
If you are an eggnog lover like me then you will LOVE this cake! Best enjoyed with a glass of eggnog, because in my opinion there is no such thing as too much eggnog. Happy Baking!
Eggnog Cake
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1-1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
- 1-1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 4 eggs room temperature
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 3/4 cup sour cream
- 1 cup eggnog
Instructions
- Preheat over to 350 degrees and grease three 6" cake pans.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon and set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer cream together the butter and sugars until fully combined. With the mixer on low, add each egg one at a time until fully incorporated. Once all the eggs are added mix in the vanilla and sour cream. Scrape the bowl down the side and make sure everything is mixed together.
- Alternating with the dry ingredients and eggnog, starting and ending with the dry ingredients, mix in until the ingredients are well combined.
- Divide the batter between the three 6" cake pans and bake for 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool 5 minutes and then remove from pans to cool completely.
Eggnog Buttercream
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. powdered sugar
- 2 cups unsalted butter room temperature
- 4-6 tbsp. eggnog
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp rum extract
Instructions
- In the bow of a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth and then slowly add in the powdered sugar one cup at a time. Letting each cup fully incorporate before adding the next. Once all the sugar has been added scrape down the bowl.
- Starting with 4 tablespoons, add in the eggnog along with the nutmeg cinnamon and rum extract. Mix together and then taste, adding in the additional eggnog until it meets your desired taste. We used 6 tablespoons total of the eggnog. We recommend not adding in more beyond this or your buttercream will become too thin.
- Start with mixer on low then slowly increase the speed to high and mix for 5 minutes. Stop the mixer once or twice throughout to scrape the bowl. The buttercream will begin to fluff and create a beautiful smooth buttercream.
- Use right away or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator. If you don't use the buttercream that day take it out of the refrigerator and bring to room temperature. Then rewhip with the mixer to fluff the buttercream back up.
