Eggnog Bundt Cake with Poppy Seeds

Eggnog Bundt Cake is so pretty, festive and fun for the holiday season! With eggnog and rum in the batter and in the glaze, it's rich and delicious, inside and out.

It's always fun to have special cakes to make during the holiday season.

Much like my Cranberry Orange Cake with Amaretto Glaze or my White Chocolate Rasperry Cake, the eggnog cake is a beautiful dessert to serve after Christmas dinner, or at any other holiday gathering.

Always popular around Christmastime, eggnog is a festive holiday drink that's typically made with milk or cream, egg yolks, sugar, rum or whiskey, and warming spices.

With a pound cake-like texture and all of those flavors, this recipe is almost like the delicious holiday drink in cake form.

The Ingredients

• unsalted butter
  
• neutral oil - I use grapeseed. (Vegetable is okay too.)
  
• granulated sugar
• non-alcoholic eggnog - Use your favorite! And if you want to make your own, this is a great recipe.
  
• sour cream
• dark rum
• pure vanilla extract
• eggs
• poppy seeds - The poppy seeds add a very delicate crunch to the cake.
  
• all-purpose flour
  
• baking powder
• salt
  
• ground cinnamon
• ground nutmeg
• powdered sugar

(See recipe card below for quantities.)

How to Make it

- Set the oven to 350°F and grease the inside of a bundt pan with butter.

- Add oil, sugar, eggnog, sour cream, rum, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to mix everything together until it's a smooth consistency. Add the eggs and whisk just until they are thoroughly blended into the batter and then mix in the poppy seeds.

- In another larger mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggnog mixture. Whisk to blend.

- Pour the batter into the buttered bundt pan and bake in the preheated 350°F oven until the edges are golden, the top has risen, and it's beginning to crack, about 45 minutes.



- Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes or so in the pan, then invert it onto a cake stand or platter.

- In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggnog with the rum, nutmeg and salt. Place a fine mesh sifter over the bowl and about a third at a time, add the powdered sugar to it. Whisk to blend. The glaze should be smooth, thick, and pourable.



- Once the cake has cooled, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze on top in a circular motion so that it drips down the sides.(More detailed instructions are in the recipe card below.)

Recipe Tips

• This cake serves 12 medium-large slices -- if you're serving it along with other dessert options, you would likely slice it more thinly and therefore have more servings.
• The glaze will be thick - it doesn't all seep into the cake and/or to the bottom. If you'd like it thinner, you can add a bit more melted butter.
• The batter may appear a tiny bit lumpy when you add it to the bundt pan -- do not worry as it will even out as it bakes.

Substitutions

• Gluten free? If you're gluten-free, substitute the flour with Cup4Cup Gluten-Free Multi Purpose Flour, or another all-purpose gluten-free flour that you know is tried and true.
• If you'd like to omit the rum in the cake batter, add a ½ teaspoon more of both the nutmeg and cinnamon. In the glaze, you can replace it with 1 to 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.
• I use butter to grease the pan, while I use oil in the cake batter. The oil creates an especially moist cake texture, and I like the little bit of the butter flavor on the "crust" of the cake. You can use oil for both if you'd like, but I would not recommend substituting the oil in the cake.

Making it Ahead and Storage

Yes, the eggnog cake can be made ahead.

• Room temperature. In a tightly sealed container, the cake can be kept at room temperature for three days.
• Refrigerator. In a tightly sealed container, the cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week. Note though that it will lose some moisture and not be quite as good. (Though, still quite tasty!)
• Freezer. Wrapped tightly, you can store it for about a month in the freezer. Defrost it overnight at room temperature the day before you want to serve it. (If it’s not a leftover, and you plan to serve it for the first time from the freezer, do not glaze it until just before you’re ready to serve it.)

You'll be a big hit if you bring this eggnog bundt cake to a holiday party -- or serve it at yours!

More amazing bundt cakes:

• Gluten-Free Chocolate Bundt Cake
• Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
• Apple Chai Bundt Cake

Eggnog Bundt Cake Recipe

Valentina K. Wein

This cake is so incredibly delicious and so festive for the holiday season. With eggnog and rum inside the cake and in the glaze, it's wonderfully rich with flavor.

5 from 8 votes

Print

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 5 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Calories 386 kcal

Equipment

• bundt cake pan

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

For the cake

• 1½ teaspoons unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup neutral oil (vegetable, grapeseed)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 1¼ cup of your favorite non-alcoholic eggnog
• ½ cup sour cream
• 2 tablespoons dark rum
• 1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 large eggs
• ⅓ cup poppy seeds
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1¼ teaspoon baking powder
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

For the glaze

• 2 tablespoons of your favorite non-alcoholic eggnog
• 2 teaspoons dark rum
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ⅛ teaspoon salt
• ¾ cup powdered sugar

Instructions

 

For the cake

• Set the oven and prepare the pan. Preheat the oven to 350°F and grease the inside of a bundt pan with the butter, making sure to get it inside all of the crevices. Set it aside.
• Make the batter. Add the oil, sugar, eggnog, sour cream, rum, and vanilla to a large mixing bowl. Use a whisk to mix everything together until it's a smooth consistency.

  Add the eggs and whisk just until they are thoroughly blended into the batter and then mix in the poppy seeds.

  In another larger mixing bowl add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Make a well in the center and pour in the eggnog mixture. Whisk just until all of the dry ingredients are thoroughly blended in. (Do not over mix!)
• Add batter to the pan and bake. Pour the batter into the buttered-bundt pan and bake in the preheated 350°F oven until the edges are golden brown, the top has risen, and is beginning to crack, about 45 minutes.
• Cool. Let the cake cool for about 15 minutes or so in the pan, then place a plate (or platter) that's at least a few inches bigger than the cake, upside down on top of the pan. Invert the cake onto the plate -- do this gently and don't remove the pan from the cake until you can feel that the cake has released and is firmly on the plate.

  The cake should be completely cooled to room temperature before you add the glaze (see below instructions).

For the glaze

• Make glaze. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the eggnog with the rum, nutmeg and salt. Place a fine mesh sifter over the bowl and about a third at a time, add the powdered sugar to it. Use the bottom of a large metal spoon to gently move the sugar around until all of it has gone through the sifter and into the bowl. Use the whisk to mix until it's smooth. Repeat this process twice, until all of the sugar has been added and mixed in. The glaze should be smooth, thick, and pourable.
• Drizzle glaze. Once the cake has cooled, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze on the cake in a circular motion around the top.

NOTES

This cake serves 12 medium-large slices -- if you're serving it along with other dessert options, you would likely slice it more thinly and therefore have more servings.

The glaze will be thick - I like it this way so that it doesn't all seep into the cake and/or to the bottom. If you'd like it thinner, you can add a bit more melted butter.

Calorie count is only an estimate.

NUTRITION

Calories: 386kcal

Keywords cake for party, holiday cakes

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