How To Make an Easy and Delicious Eggnog Pound Cake

Eggnog pound cake is a festive twist on traditional pound cake. It’s a deliciously moist cake with all the flavor of a favorite holiday beverage.

Eggnog is Delicious!

I always get very excited around Christmas time. Is it the food? The parties? Santa Claus?

Sure, all those things are great. But, what really sets apart the Christmas holiday season? Eggnog!!

Call me an eggnog fanatic as I am a big fan of eggnog in nearly any form. From a simple cup of eggnog, to eggnog cookies, to eggnog shakes. I think you can enhance nearly anything by adding the eggnog flavor.

So, what would make the perfect holiday dessert? How about a delicious eggnog cake?! It’s a fun seasonal spin adding the eggnog flavor to make a great holiday cake recipe.

But what kind of eggnog cake should I make?

Bundt Cakes versus Pound Cakes

Do I make an eggnog pound cake? Should this be an eggnog bundt cake? Is there even a difference?

Traditionally, bundt cakes are any cakes baked in a bundt pan and a pound cake uses a loaf pan. And, pound cakes came by the name honestly as a traditional pound cake had a pound each of butter, sugar, eggs and flour. It made for a dense cake!

While I don’t use pounds of butter, sugar, eggs and flour, my pound cakes are typically denser than let’s say a traditional chocolate or vanilla cake. So, I call them pound cakes. But, I really like the way bundt cakes look, so I tend to bake a lot of my pound cakes in a bundt pan. 

I think a bundt cake pan makes a beautiful cake and it looks great on the Christmas table (or any occasion).

So, eggnog pound cake it is!

Making the Perfect Pound Cake

I wanted to make this an easy eggnog pound cake recipe, so I used my traditional pound cake recipe as inspiration. This recipe is the foundation for a number of my other pound cake recipes (see links below). 

I have experimented with different types of flour (i.e., cake flour), as well as different flavors (try the Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake or this Lime Pound Cake!). But this is one of the pound cake recipes I come back to if I want something simple and delicious.

My traditional pound cake recipe always makes a delicious moist cake and is so versatile. Even the cake batter itself is so good before baking that you have to watch out you have enough for the actual cake!

Creating an Eggnog Glaze

I also started thinking about the glaze. I think you absolutely have to have a glaze on pound cakes and bundt cakes. It adds so much, so why not make an eggnog glaze?

A simple glaze is often made with powdered sugar and milk. I thought that was a bit too boring for this eggnog pound cake. It would be much more interesting to bring in the eggnog flavor not only into the cake, but also into the glaze.

Best thing to do? Substitute your favorite eggnog for the milk. The combination of the powdered sugar and the creamy eggnog is so good. Drizzle that over the top of the cake and you have the perfect eggnog glaze for the eggnog pound cake! I guarantee that you will want to lick the sides of the bowl with this glaze.

Which Pan Do I Use?

One question I often get is around a bundt pan substitution. Maybe you don’t do a lot of baking and you don’t have a bundt cake pan laying around the house. 

In this case, you can bake a loaf cake and a traditional bread loaf pan is a great substitute. You will probably need to use more than one loaf pan for all the cake batter, but you still get that great moist pound cake at the end. However, unless you have great carving skills, that flavorful cake won’t have that decorative hole in the center!

I also get asked about a bundt pan versus a tube pan. They look a lot alike, but a bundt pan and a tube pan really are not great substitutes for each other. 

A tube pan is designed for baking angel food or sponge cakes. The tube pan has high sides and a removable bottom with a central tube that supports a quick, rapid rising and even baking. Perfect for a less dense cake. 

A bundt pan is generally used for baking dense cake batter. The fluted sides and greater surface area produce more crust, which really is what we love about a perfect pound cake! Plus, it just looks cooler.

Eggnog Cake with Eggnog Glaze

This Christmas holiday season, you will definitely want to give this easy eggnog pound cake recipe a try – especially if you have an eggnog fanatic or two in your household. That eggnog flavor coupled with the eggnog icing is sure to be a hit. And, make sure you serve it with your favorite eggnog to bring it over the top.

A slice of eggnog cake and a glass of eggnog on the side will surely bring the holiday cheer this holiday season.

Enjoy!

Ingredients Needed to Make Eggnog Pound Cake

Full instructions can be found below in the recipe card

• Softened butter
• Sugar
• Eggs
• All purpose flour
• Baking powder
• Salt
• Eggnog
• Nutmeg
• Vanilla extract
• Powdered sugar

Instructions for Making Eggnog Pound Cake

• Cream butter and sugar together until fluffy.
• Add the eggs one at a time, beating each one in well.
• Sift flour, baking powder and salt together.
• Add flour mixture and eggnog alternately to butter mixture making sure to start and finish with the flour.
• Mix in vanilla extract and nutmeg.
• Divide batter between two loaf pans that have been greased and floured.
• Place pans in a cold oven and set temperature to 350 degrees.
• Bake for one hour without opening the door.
• Remove from oven and let each cake cool in their pans for 15 minutes.
• Remove cakes from pans and set on a wire rack until they are room temperature.
• Put powdered sugar in a small bowl.
• Stir in eggnog, 1 tbsp at a time until a thin glaze forms.
• Pour eggnog glaze over the top of the cake.
• Once glaze has set, slice and serve.

Tips for Making the Perfect Eggnog Pound Cake

• Make sure you give you give the butter plenty of time to come to room temperature. It is much easier to cream butter together with the sugar when you have softened butter.
• Don’t preheat the oven before baking. I make all of my pound cakes using this method and they turn out perfectly every time.
• If you can’t find eggnog at the store, you can substitute half and half or heavy cream. The pound cake will have the same richness and the nutmeg flavor will still shine through.
• It’s important to give the pound cake time to cool in the pan before removing. Letting the cake cool ensures that the cake doesn’t fall apart.
• If you’re going to freeze one of the eggnog pound cakes, make sure it’s cooled completely before transferring it to a plastic storage bag.
• This can be frozen for up to 3 months.

More Scrumptious Pound Cake Recipes to Try

• Death by Chocolate Pound Cake
• Cranberry Orange Christmas Pound Cake
• Blueberry Lemon Pound Cake
• Chocolate Macaroon Tunnel Cake
• Dairy Free Olive Oil Vanilla Bean Pound Cake
• Raspberry Swirl Pound Cake
• Glazed Lemon Pound Cake