Christmas time means there is mandatory eggnog drinking. If you think it’s gross you’ve never have had the homemade stuff! I whipped up a big batch of the cocktail and had a lot leftover soooo I used it to make this cake and boy was that a good idea! Click here for my easy and delicious eggnog recipe!
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you store eggnog cake?
Store this cake in the refrigerator for up to three days. You can store the unfrosted cake in the freezer for up to two months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator then allow to come to room temperature before serving.
Can I make this without alchohol?
You can make the cake with nonalcoholic eggnog for a child-friendly version
What kind of holes should you poke in the cake?
You’ll want to really create a lot of room for the pudding so use a large straw or the handle of a wooden spoon to create lots of holes in the cake for the pudding to soak into. You can also trim the top to open up that porous structure of the cake up to the pudding.
Can you make this cake with whole eggs?
Yes! Use the white and yolk but halve the sour cream to 1/4 cup.
How to Make Eggnog Cake
1. In a small pot whisk together sugar, salt, and corn starch. Mix in the eggnog and yolks then place over medium heat.
2. Whisk constantly until thickened, remove from hear and mix in a splash of bourbon. Transfer to a bowl, cover surface with plastic and chill.
3. For the cake: Preheat oven to 350F. Sift the flour, salt, spices and baking powder into a large bowl then whisk together and set aside.
4. Separate the egg whites into a bowl and set aside. You can reserve the yolks for a flan, pastry cream, or French buttercream!
5. In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy then and beat in the sour cream and vanilla, mixing until combined. Slowly add the egg whites while mixing on low then scrape the bowl down and mix until combined.
6. Add the Flour mixture and eggnog in three alternating batched starting and ending with the flour. Mix until combined and yes, it’s a good idea to scrape that bowl down one more time.
7. Transfer the batter to a parchment-lined 9×13 sheet cake pan and bake at 350F for about 50 minutes or until the center is springy to the touch. Invert onto a wire cooling rack, remove parchment and allow to cool completely.
8. To make the eggnog frosting cream the butter then add the sifted powdered sugar in several batches mixing on medium-low.
Pro Tips for the Best Eggnog Cake!
- Measure your flour correctly! Adding too much flour to the recipe is the most common mistake. The best, and easiest way to measure flour is by using a scale. If you don’t have one then fluff your flour with a spoon, sprinkle it into your measuring cup, and use a knife to level it off.
- If you find cake decorating to be a bit intimidating then check out my How to Decorate a Cake post, it has lots of helpful tips and a full how to video.
- If you see little clumps of butter after you mix the wet ingredients don’t panic, it all works out by the time you mix in the dry ingredients. You can even use melted butter and warm the milk and sour cream up a bit if you like.
- You can substitute whole milk yogurt for the sour cream if desired, I do it all the time and can’t really tell the difference.
- My homemade eggnog cocktail is delicious, but if you’re super busy, a store bought eggnog will do the trick!
- This could be made as a layer cake if you want something a bit more formal for a special occasion. If you’re doing that then I would suggest stiffening up the buttercream with a bit more powdered sugar and adding less of the eggnog. No one likes a wobbly cake!
If you love this recipe try these out!
If you’ve tried this eggnog cake recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you!
Ingredients
For the Cake:
- ¾ cup unsalted butter 170g, room temp
- 1 ½ cups sugar 300g
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 5mL
- ½ cup sour cream 125g
- 6 egg whites
- 2 ½ cups all purpose flour 300g
- 4 teaspoon baking powder 16g
- ¼ teaspoon allspice 250mg
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon 1g
- 1 ¼ cup eggnog 296mL
For the Pudding:
- ⅓ cup sugar 65g
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- ¼ teaspoon salt 1g
- 2 ¼ cups eggnog 535mL
- 3 egg yolks
- splash bourbon.
For the Buttercream:
- 1 1/2 cups butter 340g
- 1 lb confectioners sugar 454g
- 10 tablespoons eggnog cocktail mixture 148mL
Instructions
For the Pudding:
- In small saucepan, whisk sugar, cornstarch and salt
- Add in eggnog cocktail and egg yolks. Mix together, whisk together and place over medium heat. Whisk over heat until thickened.
- Remove from heat and mix in a splash of bourbon.
- Transfer to a bowl and cover the surface with plastic then chill.
For the Cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter and flour a baking pan. Sift the flour, salt, spices and baking powder into a large bowl then whisk together and set aside.
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter, then mix in sugar. Scrape down the bowl and beat until light and fluffy.
- Add in vanilla and sour cream. Mix until combined.
- Mix in egg whites slowly, then mix on medium until combined. Scraped the bowl down once more.
- Add the eggnog and flour mixture in3 alternating batches starting and ending with the flour. Scrape the bowl down one last time and mix until combined.
- Pour into batter into the parchment-lined pan then bake for about 50 minutes or until the center is springy to the touch.
- Invert onto a wire cooling rack, remove parchment and allow to cool completely.
For the Buttercream:
- In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream butter.
- Beat in confectioners sugar and mix until fluffy.
- Add in ¾ cups eggnog cocktail and mix until desired consistency is reached.
For the Assembly:
- Poke the cake all over using a rod-shaped tool..
- Fill the holes with the pudding and cover top as well.
- Using an ice cream scooper, add scoops of buttercream to cake. Smooth out the buttercream until covered.
- Dust top with cinnamon.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Is this baking soda or baking powder? I’m confused and terrible at details.
Hey Kim,
This recipe requires baking powder! 🙂
Best,
John
Do you think the cake would be good used in the snowflake cake? Maybe modify the buttercream to make it a little stiffer for the icing? I think the flavor would be good with the theme of the cake. Will the recipe make 3 6″ layers?
This turned out really yummy! Everyone loved it!
Eggnog is my favorite!