Eggnog Pound Cake

Name: Eggnog Pound Cake
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 90 min
Ingredients: 3 cups all purpose flour; ¼ tsp baking soda; ½ tsp salt; ¼ tsp ground nutmeg; ¼ tsp ground cinnamon; 1 cup unsalted butter (room temperature); 3 cups granulated sugar; 6 large eggs (room temperature); 1 tsp vanilla extract; 1 tsp rum or brandy (optional); 1 cup eggnog (room temperature); ¾ cup confectioner's sugar; 3 tbsp eggnog

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Eggnog pound cake is everyone’s favorite pound cake with a holiday twist. With a tender crumb and so easy to make, enjoy it all season long!

(Looking for more eggnog cake recipes? Try this creamy and delicious no-bake eggnog cheesecake.)

Eggnog pound cake with eggnog glaze on a cake platter.

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Why you’ll love this eggnog cake

How to make

Expert baking tips

Bundt pan troubleshooting guide

Recipe FAQs

More pound cake recipes

Eggnog Pound Cake

Eggnog is one of the things I look forward to every holiday season. Creamy, a little boozy, warm, cozy and delicious!

It’s such a great ingredient to bake with, too. This eggnog pound cake is a perfect example.

Let’s get to it.

Why you’ll love this eggnog cake

If you enjoy a cup of eggnog on a cold winter night, you’ll love its cake version.

Easy to make. It’s simple and straightforward, like your favorite buttermilk pound cake recipe.

Perfect holiday snacking cake. It doesn’t need bells and whistles to be delicious! Just a simple eggnog glaze you’ll want to put on everything.

Easy to dress up. Though it’s also very customizable so you can easily dress it up for company and all your celebrations. It’s a great holiday present for your foodie friends too.

How to make

Ingredients for eggnog pound cake with text overlay.

Making old fashioned eggnog pound cake is easy.

Ingredient notes

You’ll need pantry staples like all purpose flour, granulated sugar, eggs and vanilla extract. You can find the full ingredient list in the recipe card at the bottom of this page.

A few things to note:

Eggnog — you can use homemade or store-bought eggnog. The important thing is that it’s eggnog you enjoy drinking on its own. And for best results, use rich, creamy, full-fat eggnog.

Butter — we’re using a pound of butter in this recipe so the quality of the butter you use will affect the quality of your cake. I recommend using the highest quality butter that budget allows.

Powdered sugar — also called confectioner’s sugar or icing sugar.

Rum or brandy — I add a splash of rum or brandy but you can totally skip the alcohol to make it kid-friendly.

Baking tools

You’ll need:

Baking pan — you can use a 12-cup bundt pan like in the photos, 2 loaf pans or a tube pan. Baking times will vary depending on the pan you use.

Mixer — either an electric hand mixer or a stand mixer.

Mixing bowls, measuring cups and spoons

Step-by-step photos

Preheat your oven to 325F. Then grease your bundt pan and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, ground nutmeg and ground cinnamon.

Using a handheld electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium-high speed…

… until light and fluffy (about 5 minutes).

Switch to low speed and add the eggs one at time.

Make sure each one is incorporated well after each addition.

Stir in vanilla and rum or brandy, if using.

Stir until incorporated.

Add in a third of your flour mixture then half of your eggnog.

Then another third of your flour, the rest of your eggnog and finally the last of your flour, making sure to combine well after each addition.

Transfer the batter into prepared pan and bake for 60-75 minutes.

The cakes are done when they start to pull away from the sides of the pan and if a tester inserted in the middle comes out clean or with minimal dry crumbs.

Take out from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes before removing the cake from the pan and transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

While your cake is baking, you can make the eggnog glaze by mixing eggnog and powdered sugar until thick but still pourable.

Drizzle the glaze on the cake while the cake is still warm.

Expert baking tips

Easy, right? Here are more tips for perfect eggnog pound cake from scratch every time.

Use room temperature ingredients. They’re easier to combine and incorporate and helps you avoid over-mixing the batter.

Weigh ingredients. Investing in a $10 kitchen scale improved my baking immensely. And I encourage you to invest in one as well and use the weight measurements in this recipe (instead of volume measurements) where provided.

Cream butter adequately. I learned this from a famous baker — don’t skimp on creaming time. If you’re not sure you’ve creamed the butter enough, beat it some more. And scrape your bowl often.

Do not over-mix. But once you mix all your ingredients into a cake batter, be careful with over-mixing. Stop just as soon as the flour mixture is incorporated.

Bake at the correct temperature. An oven temperature comes in handy especially if your oven tends to get too hot, or has potential hot spots.

Cover with aluminium foil. If you see that your cake is browning (especially on the edges) too soon and your cake is still slightly underbaked in the middle, loosely cover the cake with aluminum foil and continue baking.

Glaze consistency. You want your glaze to be thick, but still pourable. I provide measurements in the recipe but sometimes you need to adjust to get the consistency you like. If it’s too thin, add more powdered sugar about a teaspoon at a time. Similarly, if it gets too thick, add more eggnog a little at a time as well.

Bundt pan troubleshooting guide

I like using bundt pans, especially during the holidays, because it takes very little to make it look festive! Read through these tips for an easy breezy time baking with yours.

How to coat a bundt pan so your cake releases easily

I’ve found that there is really no right or wrong way to coat or grease a bundt pan.

Every baker has their own 100% guaranteed, no-fail technique. Some use butter with flour, some use just oil, others use ready-made cake release sprays.

If a specific way has worked for you, continue doing that.

I use shortening and granulated sugar.

Melt about 2 tablespoons of shortening and coat pan using a pastry brush. Make sure to get to every nook and cranny, especially the middle/tube, which a lot of bakers forget.

Sprinkle about a heaping tablespoon of sugar all over pan.

Cover the top of the pan with cling wrap or aluminum foil and shake to coat the pan with sugar (I do it over the sink so I don’t make a mess).

If there are bald patches, add more sugar and shake some more until the whole inside of the pan is covered.

Using sugar instead of flour gives my bundt cakes a nice crunch on the outside. It adds to the sweetness too, but not by much.

How to know if a bundt cake is done baking

To know when a bundt cake is done baking, I usually rely on the toothpick test i.e. my tester should come out clean or with minimal dry crumbs.

I make sure to test 2-3 spots on the cake and that my tester (usually a bamboo skewer for bundt cakes) reaches the bottom of the cake.

You can also:

Gently press the top of your cake. It should spring back. If it doesn’t and your finger leaves a dent, you need to bake the cake some more.

Look at the sides of your cake. When they are close to being done, they typically start to pull away from the edges of the pan.

How to get the cake out of a bundt pan

If coated properly, a bundt cake should release from the pan easily.

Allow the cake to cool in the pan placed on a cooling rack. After about 10 minutes (or however long the recipe specifies), carefully invert the cake onto the rack and lift pan.

That’s it!

What to do if the cake is stuck

Sometimes, and it happens to the best of the best, cakes just get stuck to the pan.

There are a several things we can do to help it along like steaming or freezing.

Check out this article with lots of tips.

Recipe FAQs

Can I use another type of pan?

If you don’t have a bundt pan or don’t want to use one, you can use loaf pans (regular size, mini loaf or large loaf pans) or a tube pan.

Remember to not fill the pan/s to the brim and to adjust the baking time accordingly.

What kind of eggnog should I use?

You can use store-bought eggnog or even make your own. The thing to remember is to use eggnog that you enjoy drinking!

And for best results, use full-fat eggnog.

How do I store eggnog pound cake?

You can store this cake on your counter at room temperature for up to 2 days. Place it in a covered container.

To keep it for longer, store in the fridge and bring down to room temperature before serving.

More pound cake recipes

Love baking pound cakes? You’ll enjoy these reader favorites.

This is the best eggnog pound cake. I love making it during the holiday season and my loved ones always look forward to it.

Tender, delicious, packed with eggnog flavor, and your kitchen will smell like Christmas.

Happy baking!

Did you make this eggnog pound cake recipe? I’d love to hear all about it! Leave a comment or a star rating below. You can also tag me on Instagram or Facebook. I’d love to see your creations!

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