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Eggnog Cake Recipe

If you love the flavors of holiday eggnog, you’ll love this eggnog cake! It’s a nutmeg coffee cake topped with crumble, and has cool, crunchy holiday icing. You can eat it for dessert or, even better, eat it in the morning with coffee. Both options are perfect.

The cake’s base is soft, perhaps a little dense due to the sour cream, but the streusel adds a different texture, and the eggnog icing helps bring everything together. I left out cinnamon on purpose and I’d do it again because the nutmeg flavor really speaks for itself.

What Makes This One a Keeper

• Sour cream keeps it moist. It adds richness and fat that keeps the crumb from going dry, even after a day or two on the counter.
• Eggnog does double duty. It’s in both the cake batter and the icing, so the flavor isn’t just a hint — you actually taste it.
• Nutmeg instead of cinnamon. Cinnamon would have muddied the eggnog flavor. Nutmeg amplifies it. The decision matters.
• Streusel topping, not frosting. The crumbly sugar-butter topping bakes into the cake slightly, giving you a crunchy contrast to the soft interior.
• Dark pan = better browning. A dark 9×13 gives you more even browning on the bottom and edges. If you use glass, drop your oven temp by 25°F or shorten the bake time by 5 minutes.
• The icing sets up firm. Let it drizzle and dry — don’t rush it into the fridge. It forms a light glaze that’s much better than a wet frosting for a coffee cake style.

What to Know Before You Start

Before you take out the mixer, here are some things to keep in mind:

The butter you use needs to be softened and not melted or straight from the fridge. Be sure to leave the butter out for at least 30 to 45 minutes before you begin. If for some reason you have to rush this step and cream the butter cold with the sugar, this will compromise the texture of the final cake! You won’t achieve that light, even crumb.

Use full-fat eggnog instead as thin, reduced-fat versions have more water and less flavor. They will still work, but the taste isn’t as pronounced and the batter may be slightly looser than you expect.

Once you add the flour, do not overmix. Only stir until there are no remaining dry streaks. If you overmix the batter, you will develop the gluten which will yield a tougher and chewier cake rather than a soft and tender cake.

The test with the toothpick is going to be your best reference point. Each oven is going to be a little different. You should starting checking at 38. The toothpick shouldn’t have any wet batter on it, but it is acceptable to have some moist crumbs.

Icing should never be applied to a hot cake. If you put icing on a hot cake, the icing will melt, run off, and pool around the edges. That said, I know it is difficult to wait, but it is important to let the cake cool. I believe a minimum of 20 minutes is appropriate, but even longer would be okay.

Ingredients

For the Cake

• 1 cup granulated sugar — standard amount for a mildly sweet coffee cake. Not overly sweet, which lets the eggnog flavor come through.
• ½ cup softened butter — real butter, not margarine. The fat content matters here for both flavor and texture.
• 1 cup eggnog — full-fat is best. This is the primary flavor driver.
• 8 oz. sour cream — adds richness and keeps the crumb tender. Don’t substitute with plain yogurt if you can help it; sour cream is thicker and richer.
• 2 large eggs — room temperature eggs incorporate more evenly into the batter.
• 1 teaspoon rum extract — gives the cake a background warmth without making it taste boozy. If you’d rather skip it, vanilla extract works, but you’ll lose a little of that classic eggnog note.
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour — measured correctly. Spoon flour into the measuring cup and level it off — don’t scoop directly or you’ll pack in too much and end up with a dense cake.
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder — the main leavener.
• ½ teaspoon baking soda — works with the acidity of the sour cream.
• ½ teaspoon salt — balances the sweetness. Don’t skip it.

For the Eggnog Streusel Topping

• ⅓ cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg — freshly grated nutmeg is noticeably better if you have it, but pre-ground works fine.

For the Eggnog Icing

• ¾ cup powdered sugar — sifted if yours tends to clump, which will prevent lumps in the icing.
• 2 tablespoons eggnog — add a little more if you want it thinner for drizzling, or keep it thicker for a more opaque glaze.

How to Make Eggnog Cake

Step 1: Preheat and Prep Your Pan

Set the oven temperature to 350°F and prepare a 9×13 baking pan by greasing the bottom and sides. A glass pan will require you to lower the temperature by 25 degrees and/or check the cake a few minutes earlier. Bake pans (particularly dark metal pans) will provide a bake with a more desirable level of browning, and the bake will turn out more evenly browned.

If your pan has a lid (mine does, and I especially chose it for this recipe so the icing wouldn’t stick to foil), take it out now. No lid? If the icing needs to be covered, just set a piece of parchment paper loosely over the top to cover it later.

Step 2: Make the Streusel Topping

Streusel ingredients are combined first: For preparation, combine the sugar (⅓ cup), butter (2 tablespoons, softened), flour (1 tablespoon), and nutmeg (½ teaspoon) in a small bowl. Use a fork to mix until everything looks crumbly; the consistency resembles damp sand that sticks together when pressed. Leave this mixture aside for now.

Step 3: Cream Butter and Sugar

Using a stand mixer (or with a hand mixer), mix the 1 cup of sugar with the ½ cup of softened butter until the mixture is pale and creamy — about 2 minutes on medium setting. You want it to lighten in color and increase in volume a little. The mixture should be fluffy and not look grainy.

Step 4: Add Wet Ingredients

Incorporate the eggnog, sour cream, eggs, and rum extract into the creamed butter and sugar mixture. Blend on medium until the ingredients have combined. At this stage, the batter may look somewhat curdled, and that’s completely ok. It’ll look better once you add the flour.

Step 5: Add Dry Ingredients

Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. On low speed, mix for about 30 seconds until ingredients are just combined. The batter will be thick enough to scoop, and will form no dry streaks.

Step 6: Fill the Pan and Add Streusel

Spread the batter across the base of the prepared pan using the spatula to push batter into the corners. After, streusel topping is added by sprinkling it across the entire surface; the more the better. It shouldn’t be perfectly even, however, it would be good to get an even distribution so that every slice has a some crunch.

Step 7: Bake

Bake the cake for 38 to 40 minutes. It will be finished when you can pull a toothpick out from the center without any sticky batter on it. It is done when the top is lightly brown, and the sides recede from the edges of the pan.

If your oven tends to run hot, start your check at 35 minutes, but be careful not to pull it too early. An eggnog cake that is under baked will collapse in the center as it cools.

Step 8: Cool, Then Ice

Before icing, allow the cake to cool in the pan for 20 minutes. While the cake cools, prepare the icing by mixing powdered sugar with 2 tablespoons of eggnog in a small bowl. Make sure the mixture is smooth. If the mixture is THICK, it should be THIN enough to drizzle. If the mixture is too thick, add more eggnog one teaspoon at a time.

To drizzle the icing, use the back-and-forth motion method as it may look glossy and wet at the beginning. In order to create a nice, delicate glaze to the icing, allow it to sit for another 10 to 15 minutes. Also, do not cover the cake until the icing on the cake has completely dried.

Helpful Tips

It is critical to measure flour properly. Often times the number one cause for a coffee cake to be dense is because of improperly measured flour. Use your spoon to fill your measuring cup and then level it off. Do not dip your cup into the flour bag. If your cake flour is packed, your cake will be dry and heavy.

For better mixing, have all your ingredients at room temperature, so take the butter, eggs, and sour cream out of the fridge 30 minutes prior to starting. If cold ingredients are used, they can leave streaks in the batter, and won’t blend as evenly.

Make sure to include the rum extract. It may seem small, but the rum extract contributes to the flavor of the cake that makes it eggnog, and without it, it would just taste like a generic cake with vanilla and nutmeg. You won’t need to buy it again anytime soon, it’s a tiny bottle and it lasts a long time.

For more icing, double the recipe. The original amount gives you a light drizzle. If you want a full glaze, mix 1½ cups of powdered sugar with 3-4 tablespoons of eggnog. That will cover the whole top.

Here, a dark pan with a lid is really helpful. I was sure mine would come in handy since covering the iced cake with foil later would take some of the icing with it. If you don’t have a pan with a lid, wait until the icing is fully set before covering it with anything.

Nutmeg is worth grating yourself; it’s a lot stronger than pre-ground nutmeg. If you have a whole nutmeg and a microplane, even though pre-ground nutmeg works, use those instead. You will be able to taste the difference, and it will be more aromatic.

Variations

Bundt cake version: This batter is suitable for a well greased and floured bundt pan. Bake at 350° for 45-50 minutes. Skip the streusel (it will sink into the batter in a bundt) and go heavy on the icing drizzle once cooled.

Introducing a cream cheese swirl! Mix 4 oz. of cream cheese with 2 tbsp. of sugar and 1 egg yolk. Before adding the streusel, drop spoonfuls of the mixture over the batter and use a knife to gently combine. This creates a nice cream cheese swirl. The cream cheese mixture is a bit tangy, balancing the cream cheese icing that is very sweet.

Spike it: Instead of rum extract, use 2 tablespoons of dark rum. To balance the extra liquid, reduce the eggnog in the batter to ¾ cup. The taste is a bit more interesting. Although the booze evaporates.

Mini Muffins: Grease a muffin tin and scoop the batter in until it’s about ⅔ full. Top with streusel and bake at 350°F for 18–22 minutes. Makes about 18 muffins. Once cooled, drizzle icing over the muffins as well.

Storage, Make-Ahead, and Leftovers

Counter storage: After the icing is fully set, cover the pan and keep it at room temperature for up to 3 days. The cake gets slightly more moist on day two as the sour cream continues to do its thing.

Refrigerator: If your house is warm, refrigerate after the first day. Cover them well as the cake will dry out if it is exposed to the refrigerator’s air. Take out individual pieces, let them get to room temp for 10 minutes before eating or for 20 seconds in the microwave to warm.

Freezer: This cake freezes well. Before freezing, cut the cake into individual sizes. Wrap each piece tightly in plastic and then put them in a zip-top bag. Freezing is good for up to 2 months. To thaw, place in the fridge overnight or on the countertop for a few hours. If you want to freshen it up, add a drizzle of icing after it has thawed.

**Make ahead option**: The batter and the streusel can be made a day in advance. The batter should be covered and stored in the refrigerator while the streusel can be stored at room temperature in an airtight container. When baking, it will be necessary to spread the cold batter in the pan (it will be stiffer from the cold, just spread it gently) before topping and baking the streusel. Increase baking time by 3-5 minutes since the batter will be cold.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use store-bought eggnog?

Absolutely, and that is what this recipe assumes. Feel free to use any full-fat eggnog brand from the dairy aisle. You may use shelf-stable eggnog from a carton, but keep in mind that it will taste a little less rich. Please do not use the reduced-fat versions. Those contains more water, and you will not get the full eggnog flavor.

Can I make this without a stand mixer?

A hand mixer is fine, and you can also do it by hand with a whisk and some arm power — cream the butter and sugar very well before adding the wet ingredients. You won’t have to beat this as much as you would a traditional layer cake because the sour cream and baking agents will do most of the leavening work.

My cake came out dense. What went wrong?

The two most likely causes are either too much flour (eg. packed, instead of spooned, into the measuring cup) or overmixing once the flour has been added. Both of these develop extra gluten which makes the cake tough and heavy. For flour, use the spoon and level method, and for mixing, mix until the batter is just combined.

Can I double the recipe?

Yes, but you’ll have to use two 9×13 pans instead of one deeper pan. If you double the recipe and use one deeper pan, it alters the baking time a lot, and the middle will most likely be underbaked while the edges are overbaked. Using two standard pans is the neater choice.

What can I substitute for sour cream?

For a substitute, use the same amount of full-fat plain Greek yogurt. It will make the crumb a touch less rich, but will still keep it moist. Regular plain yogurt is ok, but is thinner, which means your batter will be slightly looser. Do not use low-fat or non-fat varieties.

Do I have to use rum extract?

Without rum extract, vanilla extract works as a substitution. You’ll still get that eggnog flavor from the cake, you’ll just lose the particular rum-spice background note. You can also use real rum. Just be sure to take out 2 tablespoons of eggnog to balance the liquid.

Related Recipes

• Eggnog Cookies — the most-pinned thing on my site every December. Soft, chewy, and very eggnog-forward.
• Eggnog Bread — a quick bread version that’s great for gifting or making a big batch ahead.
• Eggnog Cheesecake Bars — creamy cheesecake filling with an eggnog-spiced layer, cut into bars. Holiday potluck staple.
• Christmas Cookie Recipes — a roundup of holiday cookies if you’re baking for a crowd.
• Holiday Dessert Recipes — more ideas for Thanksgiving through New Year’s.

Eggnog Cake Recipe Card