Eggnog Cake

I think that one of the best parts of the Christmas season (after the family togetherness, yuletide festivities, and joyous giving of gifts and appreciation to others) is when all the holiday goodies go on sale. In the past, I've usually done the majority of my Christmas decor shopping the days immediately following the holiday... and this year was no different. So far I've purchased: wrapping paper, ribbons, bows, wreaths, tree ornaments, chocolates and of course... EGGNOG.

I purposefully held off on buying eggnog before Christmas because I knew that Superstore would have a sale ... and low-and-behold, on the 27th of December eggnog was on sale for $1 a liter. Having bought 4 cartons of the deliciously creamy beverage, I realized that I went a little overboard and would need to finish up the stuff quickly... yes, it's true folks eggnog does not last forever :(

Since I'm the only person in my family who's a real fan of the eggy-nutmeggy concoction it took me a while to figure out how I'd bamboozle the rest of my family to help me in the consumption of the eggnog. Finally, my baking brain decided that an eggnog cake would be just the thing to bridge the gap between my family's tummies and the nog.

Eggnog Cake with Rum Glaze

Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 1/2 cup-all purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup eggnog
- 1/2 cup butter, melted
- 1 tsp vanilla essence
- 1 tsp spiced rum

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350degrees and prepare a 9-inch round cake pan.
2. In a bowl, combine flours, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, sugar, eggnog, butter, vanilla and rum.
4. Add wet ingredients to the dry mixture and mix until just combined.
5. Bake for 45-50minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove cake and place on wire cooling rack, with a baking sheet beneath, while you prepare the rum glaze.

Rum Glaze
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 tbsp spiced rum
- 1/2 cup eggnog
- 1 tbsp butter

Method:
1. Place sugar in a small saucepan on the stove over medium heat. Do not stir sugar, simply allow for the heat to cause sugar to brown and become liquid-like. If you wish to stir the sugar, swirl the saucepan gently. Continue heating sugar until all of it has dissolved.
2. Lower the heat and carefully add in the rum. Be cautious, as the addition of liquid to the hot sugar can cause the syrup to bubble and splatter out of the pan and cause a serious burn-hazard.
3. Once the mixture stops bubbling, stir the rum into the sugar to incorporate the flavor.
4. Carefully add in the eggnog, 1/8 cup at a time. Be cautious, as the addition of eggnog can cause the sugar-rum mixture to foam and expand. By adding eggnog 1/8 cup at a time, you minimize the risk of the glaze overflowing the saucepan. Continue adding the remainder of the eggnog, mixing thoroughly to incorporate the flavor.
5. Remove pan from heat and add in the butter, mixing until butter has melted.
6. Gently spoon 1/2 of the glaze over the top of the eggnog cake (I pierced the surface of the cake with a fork to allow for the glaze to seep into the cake, but this is optional).
7. For serving: slice the cake into pieces and provide the remaining glaze for spooning over each individual slice.

I was a bit wary of whether or not the taste of the eggnog would be palatable in cake-form, but there was nothing to worry about. The cake plus the rum-eggnog glaze gave the dessert a wonderfully nutmeg-eggnog taste... it was fantastic! This cake is quite heavy and dense, with the crumbly and moist texture of a pound cake. The glaze is very, very sweet and I could only manage to finish a small piece of the cake as it was so rich. I'll probably make this cake in the future; it will actually make a nice gift if packaged in a cute loaf-pan for next Christmas, or I could even make some tiny cupcakes and frost them with eggnog-rum buttercream?! Oh, the possibilities!