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Eggnog Cake takes the carton everyone buys in December and bakes it into a tender, nutmeg laced 9×13 cake under a silky cooked eggnog frosting, basically Christmas in crumb form. I brought it to a holiday potluck and came home with an empty pan and three recipe requests before the coffee was even poured. If my peppermint cheesecake owns the no bake side of the holiday table, this cake owns the oven side.
One bowl of batter, one pan, and the frosting stirs together on the stovetop while the cake cools.
Eggnog Cake Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 30 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 42 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 1 hour 12 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 15 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 390kcal
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Custardy eggnog and warm nutmeg with a whisper of rum
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, a straightforward mix and bake sheet cake
Quick Answer
Cream butter and sugar until fluffy, then beat in eggs one at a time with vanilla and rum extract. Alternate adding the flour mixture, which is spiked with nutmeg, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, with the eggnog and sour cream until a smooth batter forms. Spread it in a greased 9×13 pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 42 minutes. Cool completely, then frost with a cooked eggnog frosting made by thickening eggnog and flour on the stove and whipping it into butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Eggnog is a cheat code cake liquid. It brings milk, cream, egg yolks, sugar, and spice in one pour, so the crumb bakes up custardy and flavorful without any extra steps.
- Sour cream insures the moisture. Its fat and acidity tenderize the crumb and keep the cake moist for days, even after the eggnog carton is long gone.
- Rum extract flavors without the booze. A teaspoon gives that spiked eggnog warmth while keeping the cake completely kid friendly.
- The cooked flour frosting matches the theme. Thickening eggnog with flour on the stove, then whipping it into butter and powdered sugar, makes an ermine style frosting that tastes like whipped eggnog instead of plain sweet butter.
- A 9×13 keeps it low stakes. No layers, no torting, no crumb coat, the frosting swoops on with an offset spatula and the sprinkles hide every imperfection.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- It tastes exactly like the drink, custardy, nutmeg forward, with that little rum warmth in the background.
- The cooked eggnog frosting is silky and not too sweet, closer to whipped cream than to bakery buttercream.
- It feeds a crowd from one 9×13 pan, the same reason my yellow cake is a birthday staple.
Key Ingredients
The carton of eggnog stars in both the cake and the frosting.
- Eggnog: The cake liquid and the frosting base. Any good store bought carton works, use your favorite drinking nog.
- Sour cream: Room temperature, it keeps the crumb moist and tender through several days of leftovers.
- Rum and vanilla extracts: The pair that makes the cake taste like spiked nog while staying family friendly.
- Ground nutmeg: In the batter and the frosting, it is the spice that reads instantly as eggnog.
- Butter and powdered sugar: The frosting backbone that the thickened eggnog gets whipped into.
See recipe card for exact quantities.
Variations and Substitutions
One holiday cake, a few fun directions.
- Add 2 tablespoons of bourbon or dark rum to the frosting for a true spiked version for the adults table.
- Swap the rum extract for almond extract if the rum flavor is not your thing.
- Bake it in two 8 inch rounds for a layer cake, checking for doneness around 30 minutes.
- Turn it into a layer cake moment like my Black Forest cake by baking in two rounds and doubling the frosting.
- Dust the frosted cake with extra fresh grated nutmeg and cinnamon instead of sprinkles for a grown up finish.
How to Make Eggnog Cake
- Cream the room temperature butter and granulated sugar in a stand mixer on medium until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping the bowl once.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each, then mix in the vanilla and rum extracts.
- With the mixer on low, alternate adding the whisked dry ingredients and the eggnog in batches, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.
- Mix in the sour cream just until the batter is smooth and uniform, do not overbeat once the flour is in.
- Spread the batter evenly into a greased 9×13 baking dish and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 40 to 44 minutes, until a toothpick comes out with a few moist crumbs. Cool completely in the pan.
- For the frosting, whisk the eggnog and flour in a saucepan over medium heat until thick like pudding, then cool it fully. Whip the butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and nutmeg, beat in the cooled eggnog mixture until fluffy, then frost the cake and finish with Christmas sprinkles.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- Bring everything to room temperature. Cold eggs, eggnog, or sour cream can curdle the creamed butter and make a dense crumb.
- Cool the eggnog paste completely before whipping. Warm paste melts the butter and the frosting turns soupy, spread it on a plate to speed the cooling.
- Do not overmix after the flour goes in. Mix just to smooth, extra beating develops gluten and toughens the cake.
- Check the cake at 40 minutes. Every oven runs different, and eggnog batter goes from moist to dry quickly in the last minutes.
- Frost only a fully cooled cake. Even slightly warm cake melts the ermine frosting into a glaze.
- Grate fresh nutmeg over the top before serving. The aroma hit when the plate lands is worth the ten seconds.
Serving Ideas and Suggestions
Serve squares of eggnog cake with mugs of my Grinch hot cocoa at a Christmas movie night, the green and white combo is straight off a holiday card.
For a dessert board, cut the cake into small squares and surround it with pieces of my Christmas fudge and holiday candy so guests can graze.
It is a natural for the adults table after dinner alongside little glasses of my eggnog pudding shots, double nog is a lifestyle.
And for a bake sale or cookie exchange, squares of this next to slices of my marble cake cover both the holiday and the classic crowd.
Store the frosted eggnog cake covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days, the frosting contains dairy and holds beautifully chilled. Let slices sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving so the crumb softens back up. Unfrosted cake freezes well for up to 2 months, wrapped tightly.
Eggnog Cake FAQs
Like the drink in cake form, custardy and rich with warm nutmeg and a gentle rum flavor from the extract. The cooked eggnog frosting keeps the sweetness in check, so it reads closer to a bakery spice cake with whipped frosting than a sugary sheet cake.
Yes, as long as it is a cooked custard style nog with a similar thickness to store bought. Very thin homemade nog can loosen the batter slightly, so if yours pours like milk, reduce it by a few tablespoons or expect a couple extra minutes of bake time.
Not as written. The rum flavor comes entirely from rum extract, so the cake is kid friendly. If you want it genuinely spiked, add 2 tablespoons of dark rum or bourbon to the frosting after the eggnog paste goes in and whip it through.
The eggnog and flour paste was still warm when it hit the butter. The cooked mixture has to be completely cool, refrigerate it if you need to, and the butter should be softened but not greasy. If it breaks, chill the whole bowl for 15 minutes and rewhip.
Yes, it is a great make ahead. Bake the cake a day early and keep it covered in the pan, then make the frosting and finish it the day you serve. Fully frosted, it holds in the fridge for 4 days, and the flavor is honestly better on day two once the nutmeg settles in.
The unfrosted cake freezes beautifully for up to 2 months wrapped tightly in plastic and foil, thaw it overnight in the fridge. The ermine frosting does not freeze as gracefully, it can weep when thawed, so frost after thawing for the best texture.
Made this Eggnog Cake? Leave a comment and a star rating below, and tell me if you kept it classic or spiked the frosting!
Eggnog fans should start the day with my eggnog french toast.
For a loaf pan version of this flavor, my glazed eggnog bread comes together in one bowl.
Add our caramel apple dump cake to your holiday dessert table.
Eggnog Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ cup unsalted butter room temp
- 1 ½ cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs room temp
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon rum extract
- ½ cup sour cream room temp
- ¾ cup eggnog room temp
For the frosting:
- ½ cup eggnog
- 2 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter room temp
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Christmas sprinkles optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with baking spray, set aside.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and baking soda, set aside.
- In the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream the butter with the sugar for 3 minutes until light and fluffy, scrape down the sides as needed. Add the eggs into the mixer one at a time, mixing them in fully before adding the next one. Add the vanilla and rum extract until smooth, the mixture may look a little curdled, that’s okay.
- Add half of the flour mixture and mix in until combined. Mix in the sour cream until combined. Repeat with the remaining flour. Slowly stir in the eggnog, scrape down the sides and give another mix so everything is smooth.
- Pour the batter into the baking dish and smooth out the top. Bake for 35-42 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- While the cake is cooling, start the frosting. Place the eggnog and flour into a small saucepan and whisk to combine. Place over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick like a paste. Let cool to room temperature.
- Place the butter and powdered sugar in the body of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment. Slowly stir it in until combined. Add the vanilla and nutmeg, stir to combine.
- Add the cooled eggnog/flour mixture, stir it in until combined, then turn the mixer on medium-high speed. Whip it for 3 minutes until light and fluffy with a whipped cream texture.
- Frost the cake and add Christmas sprinkles if using or a sprinkle of ground nutmeg would also be pretty. Slice and serve.
Notes
- Homemade or store bought eggnog can be used.
- Make sure to fully cool your cake before frosting.
- You can add more rum extract if you’d like, just replace the vanilla with the rum extract.
- You can also take a fork after it is done baking and poke holes on the top and brush the cake with rum and let it soak in while it cools.
- Cut this recipe in half and bake in a 9×9-inch baking pan.
- Sprinkle with nutmeg if desired as it really complements this cake.
- Make sure all your ingredients are at room temperature.
Nutrition
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