This stunning holiday cake is the next best thing to eggnog in a cup or in creamy pie form. The dense yet tender cake highlights the incomparable flavor of eggnog, while rum, nutmeg, and currants add a complementary dimension.
Bake it in your favorite patterned Bundt or tube pan, and brush the cake with the rum glaze while it’s still warm. As the cake cools, the crystallized topping clings attractively to the crevices and them crinkles, creating a special effect.–Flo Braker
Why Our Testers Loved This
Barb P. loved this eggnog pound cake recipe because “it’s easy to make, attractive when glazed, studded with currants, and festive with the tastes of eggnog and nutmeg.”
Virginia H. joined in with her comment, calling it a “great cake” with “good texture and aroma.”
What You’ll Need to Make This
- Currants–You could substitute any dried fruit here, if you prefer, such as dried cranberries, blueberries, or raisins.
- Rum–For both the fruit soak and the glaze, if you prefer to use a different liquor, feel free to swap in brandy or bourbon.
- Eggs–For best results, use room temperature eggs.
How to Make This Recipe
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour your Bundt pan, tapping out any excess flour.
- Mix the currants and rum. Let them soak for 15 minutes. Combine the dry ingredients.
- Beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the sugar until fluffy, then slowly add the eggs, scraping the sides of the mixer occasionally.
- Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the eggnog to the mixer. Stir in the vanilla, then fold in the currants and any rum remaining in the bowl. Pour the batter into the Bundt pan.
- Bake the cake until the sides are beginning to pull away from the pan. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes.
- Make the glaze. Combine the sugar, rum, and water in a small bowl.
- Release the cake onto a wire rack. Brush the glaze over the cake, then let it cool completely before serving.
FAQs
Yes. You can soak the currants in water, and for the glaze, add extra water or eggnog in place of the rum.
Yes. The cake can be frozen, wrapped in plastic, for up to 3 months. For best results, freeze the cake unglazed, and add the glaze after defrosting.
Helpful Tips
- Store the cake covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Use a Bundt pan that has a capacity of at least 10 cups.
More Great Eggnog Dessert Recipes
Write a Review
If you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David
Eggnog Pound Cake
Equipment
- 10-by-3-inch Bundt pan or a 10-by-4 1/4-inch tube pan (with or without a removable bottom)
Ingredients
For the pound cake
- Scant 1/2 cup currants
- 2 tablespoons dark rum or water, at room temperature
- 3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for the pan
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
- 2 sticks (8 oz) unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus more for the pan
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 cup refrigerated eggnog, at room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the crystal rum glaze
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons dark rum
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
Make the eggnog pound cake
- Center a rack in the oven and crank up the heat to 350°F (175°C) or, if the pan has a dark finish, 325°F (160°C). Butter a 10-by-3-inch Bundt pan or a 10-by-4 1/4-inch tube pan (with or without a removable bottom) and then flour it, tapping out any excess flour. (If your pan has an intricate design or detail, take the extra precaution of spreading it first with solid vegetable shortening, followed by a coating of nonstick spray, and then a dusting of flour to ensure the finished cake releases in one piece.)
- Combine the currants and rum in a small bowl. Let them soak for 15 minutes.
- Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.
- Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-low speed until creamy and smooth, 30 to 45 seconds. Add the sugar in a steady stream and continue to beat on medium speed until light in color and fluffy, about 5 minutes, stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- With the mixer still on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, beating after each addition until incorporated and stopping the mixer occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
- On the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in 4 additions alternately with the eggnog in 3 additions, beginning and ending with the flour mixture and mixing after each addition just until incorporated. Stop the mixer as needed to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the vanilla and mix just until combined.
- Detach the paddle and bowl from the mixer, and tap the paddle against the side of the bowl to free the excess batter. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold in the currants and any remaining rum. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly with the spatula.
- Bake the cake just until the top springs back when lightly touched in the center and the sides are beginning to come away from the pan, 50 to 65 minutes. Transfer the cake to a wire rack and let it cool in the pan for about 10 minutes while you prepare the glaze.
Make the crystal rum glaze and glaze the cake
- In a small bowl, combine the sugar, rum, and water and stir with a rubber spatula just until blended.
- Tilt and rotate the cake pan while gently tapping it on a counter to help release the cake. Invert a wire rack on top of the pan, invert the cake onto the rack, and carefully remove the pan. Slide a sheet of waxed paper under the rack.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the top and sides of the warm cake with the glaze, using every last drop. Let the cake cool completely before serving.
- To serve, slide the base of a tart pan, a small rimless baking sheet, or a large offset spatula under the cake and carefully transfer it to a serving platter. Thinly slice the cake with a sharp or serrated knife.
Notes
- Storage–Store the cake covered at room temperature for up to 3 days.
- Freezing–Wrap in plastic and freeze for up to 3 months. For best results, freeze the cake without the glaze.
- Bundt pan–Use a Bundt pan that has a capacity of at least 10 cups.
- Ingredients–For best results, use room temperature ingredients.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
This eggnog pound cake recipe earns a high rating because it’s easy to make, attractive when glazed, studded with currants, and festive with the tastes of eggnog and nutmeg. It was a little too sweet for my taste, as I tend to think of pound cake as less sweet than many of its frosted cake relatives, but it was not so sweet that many would be turned off.
Timings in the recipe were basically correct. I used rum instead of water for the currants.
Great cake! Good texture and aroma. Sourcing eggnog in England is tough, however, I bought some from Starbucks and it worked fine.
I would probably add a touch more rum syrup and nutmeg to bump up the flavor. This would be a great cake for a brunch. Could easily swap any dried fruit for the currants or omit them.
I always use a good amount of butter flavored Crisco and grease every crevice of my Bundt pan. Then dust the whole inside of the Bundt pan with a good amount of powdered sugar rather than flour. So far none of my Bundt cakes stick
Hi Marjie,
What wonderful advice! I’m going to try that trick on my next rum cake. I bet that little bit of extra sugar doesn’t hurt either.
I made this cake for my office Christmas party. I found that 55 minutes wasn’t near enough time for the cake to finish cooking. When I took it out at 55 minutes, there was lots of wet batter still on my tester knife that I stuck into the cake. I added 15 minutes to the cooking time and that pretty much finished it up. (It was still a bit moist in the center but it was edible.)
Another thing that happened was that it fell when I took it out of the oven. It had puffed up pretty high in my angel food tube pan. But when I took it out, the center part near the ring fell in a lot. Did that happen to anyone else? Again, the flavor was pretty good, but it was much more dense and heavy than I had anticipated. I wish it had been a bit fluffier. Will adding an additional egg help with that problem?
LaShanta, thanks for writing. If you look at the recipe, Flo states, “55 to 65 minutes” is required for proper baking. You baked yours for 70 minutes. There can be a few reasons why the cake may have needed the little extra to bake.
I think the biggest culprit could be your oven. It sounds like it’s running cool or has cool spots. I’d buy two or three oven thermometers and place them around the oven. Crank it to the heat you need and see if the three thermometers register correctly. If they are pretty much all off, the oven has to be calibrated, and a local repairperson can do that. If only one of the thermometers is off, you have a cold spot, and you’ll need to rotate your cake several times while baking.
Opening the oven door is a disaster for a cake. You should open the oven door for the first time at the lower end of a time suggestion. So in this case, open the oven for the first time at around 55 minutes—that’s when you should turn the cake, if you have a cold spot.
Regarding the cake falling, it could be due to several things such as: 1. low oven temperature, 2.) under baking, or 3.) excessive jarring of the cake. My guess is it’s a combo of the first two.
As far as adding an extra egg, that would throw off the critical balance of ingredients. Flo Braker is one of the most respected bakers and cookbook writers in America because she’s rigorous in her testing of recipes—so I’d trust the recipe. I think if you follow some of suggestions above, you have one heck of a cake. Happy baking!
This is really a delicious cake! Not too sweet and a lovely texture. I ran out of regular sugar so used Sugar in the Raw for the topping. The crystal sugar looked beatiful on top of the cake. This will definitely be a holiday staple.
Hi Jackie,
So glad that you enjoyed the cake. I imagine that the Sugar in the Raw would be a beautiful topping. Isn’t it nice to have a trusty “go to ” recipe for your holiday treats?
Best wishes