Eggnog Cake

Eggnog mix (without alcohol):

• 3 eggs
• 1 pint (2 cups) milk
• 1/2 cup cream (heavy cream)
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Cake mix:

• Dry ingredients:
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Wet ingredients:
  • 3/4 cup (1 and 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup eggnog
  • 2 tablespoons rum
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Frosting:

(I have yet to find a recipe for a properly creamy bundt cake ganache - suggestions would be welcome. Use about 1 and 1/2 cups of the eggnog in your ganache, to give the cake the proper flavor.))

This cake is prepared in a manner similar to traditional Skillet Cornbread. This means we don't grease and flour the pan in advance! Instead, place the dry pan into the oven, and heat the oven and pan to 425 degrees Fahrenheit.

As the oven is heating, prepare your ingredients. First, of course, be sure you have eggnog. Store-bought eggnog will work, but why bother when homemade eggnog is easy to make – and it tastes far more delicious! The eggnog directions above will produce about 3 cups of eggnog. The recipe calls for about 2 and 1/2 cups of eggnog, so there will still be half a cup of eggnog left over for someone to finish off.

In your mixing bowl, add the ingredients in order so the wet ingredients are added to the dry ingredients. The dry ingredients are two cups of flour, one teaspooneach of baking powder and baking soda, and half a teaspoon of salt. Mix them together, then we add our wet ingredients: butter, sugar, eggs, eggnog, rum (the alcohol will boil away as the cake bakes in the oven), and nutmeg. Mix together into a batter.

When the oven temperature reaches 425 degrees, carefully remove the cake pan from the oven. Add 2 tablespoons of shortening or vegetable oil, and brush the sides of the pan so the entire baking surface is covered. Pour the extra hot oil out of the pan and into the cake batter, and stir it all together. Pour the batter into the hot cake pan. (As anyone who makes cornbread knows, it isn't right if you don't hear the sizzle.)

Place the pan back into your 425 degrees oven, and immediately turn the temperature down to 350 degrees F. Set the oven timer for 50 minutes. This will let the temperature gradually decrease, and keep the cake from burning.

After the cake comes out of the oven, let it rest in the cake pan for twenty minutes before flipping.

Prepare your ganache!