I don’t know about you, but I always found eggnog to be too thick and sweet to my liking to drink. I also don’t know about you, but we seem to have an excess amount of eggnog around the house especially near Christmas time. After thinking of multiple ways of how to use it in a dessert, which seemed like the best way to use the heavy, sweetness of ‘nog to its advantage, I decided to try it in a cake. It was a trial and error process: with the first cake I made, I used only 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg which did little to enhance the flavor of the eggnog, and I added cranberries to the batter, thinking the tartness would offset the sweetness of the eggnog. That plus the chocolate ganache I decided to top the cake with overpowered the eggnog completely. Turns out the strong, distinctly eggnog-y taste of the drink doesn’t actually come across in a baked dessert. I then decided to omit the cranberries and ganache, add more nutmeg, cinnamon, and rum to the batter to enhance the eggnog flavor, and top the cake with an eggnog glaze. Also, because booze is always good, I figured soaking the cake in a rum soak would not only be delicious but would compliment the eggnog flavor as well.

Let me tell you, after the first cake, this one was far better. The eggnog flavor came through, the rum soak made the cake moist and added a booze-y kick to each bite, and the cinnamon and nutmeg provided just enough spice.

Also, on a side note, please, please, please show your cake some TLC when making this and take your time in pouring the rum soak over the cake once you invert it. You want the cake to absorb all the possible rum-my goodness of the soak instead of it running down the sides and pooling at the bottom of the cake. It took me about ten minutes to finish pouring the second half of the soak over the cake. I pity the fool who rushes and misses out on the delicious spiked aspect of this dessert…booze is good, folks, especially in an eggnog cake.

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Rum Soaked Eggnog Cake

For the cake:

3 cups all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 cup eggnog

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 tablespoon dark rum

18 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 cups granulated sugar

3 eggs + 1 egg yolk

For the rum soak:

1/4 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup dark rum

For the icing:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons eggnog

1 tablespoon dark rum

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

 

For the cake:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 10-inch bundt pan with cooking spray and dust generously with flour, tapping out the excess.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg, and cinnamon in a bowl. In another small bowl, combine the eggnog, vanilla, and rum. Set both bowls aside for now.

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment, beat the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add the eggs and egg yolk and beat until combined. Add in the flour mixture in three additions, alternating with the eggnog mixture in two additions, scraping down the bowl as needed.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with a spatula. Bake in the preheated oven 50-60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.

For the rum soak:

While the cake is baking, make the soak. Combine the sugar and vanilla in a small bowl and add the boiling water, whisking until the sugar is dissolved. Let the mixture cool and then add in the rum. Set aside.

Assembly:

As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, take a skewer and poke holes all over the top of the cake (it will be the bottom once you invert it). Pour half of the rum soak over the cake and allow it to soak in, about 10 minutes.

Invert the cake onto your serving platter and with a skewer, poke holes over the top and sides of the cake. SLOWLY pour the remaining soak over the top of the cake; you want the soak to absorb into the cake, not pool at the bottom of the platter. Let cake cool completely.

For the eggnog icing:

Whisk the powdered sugar, eggnog, and rum together in a bowl until smooth. The icing should be thick, but pouring consistency. If too thick, add a splash more eggnog or rum until the right consistency is reached. Pour over the cooled cake, and let set for about 15 minutes before serving. If desired, dust top of cake with cinnamon.

Serves: 12