Spiced Eggnog Cake with Maple Buttercream

We're winding down baking through The Cake Book: Beautiful Sweet Treats for Every Craving by Rebecca Firth.  Next month we get to choose whichever cake we want from the book, but for this month I chose Spiced Eggnog Cake with Rum Buttercream.

Now a disclaimer - I don't really enjoy liquor (rum, whiskey, etc.) in baked goods.  So that my family would actually eat the cake, I created an adapted version of it.  If you want to add more nutmeg, it will make it taste more "eggnoggy."

The cake came out beautifully - a little dense (in a good way), but incredibly tender lightly spiced cake slathered with my own maple buttercream frosting.

Instead of the rum buttercream frosting the recipe calls for, I made a creamy, delicious maple buttercream.  Rebecca's rum frosting is what is called a French buttercream and uses 8 egg yolks along with 24 tablespoons (3 sticks for U.S. measurers) of butter.  (!yikes!) 

That's a little excessive for our current budget and I wasn't totally impressed with the last French buttercream I had.  That's purely subjective, so if you want to try it, you can find the recipe in her great cake book (link above).

My maple buttercream frosting was perfect for the cake.  Love that maple flavor!  The recipe for that is included in the recipe card below.

We loved the combo of the spice cake with the creamy maple buttercream.  I made the cakes one day, then wrapped the layers in plastic wrap and stored in the refrigerator overnight.  That worked nicely.  I frosted them the next day and took photos, then dug in with my little fork.  Delicious!

Spiced Eggnog Cake is fairly easy to put together.  As always, make sure the butter, milk, and sour cream are room temperature.  It really helps blending the batter smoothly.

This is a great cake for the holidays and will look pretty on a holiday table.   Another unique and delicious cinnamony cake you may want to consider for Thanksgiving or Christmas is Cinnamon Pudding Cake.  It's excellent.  Oh, and don't forget the wonderful Cider Glazed Apple Bundt Cake.  You'll love that one, too.

Be sure and check out the other cakes that members of the group have made (links below the recipe)!

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Spiced Eggnog Cake

Yield: 12 slices

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Tender, lightly spiced cake with buttercream frosting.

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Ingredients

• The Cake:
• 1 cup light brown sugar, packed (220g)
• 1 cup granulated sugar (200g)
• 8 tablespoons butter, room temperature (113g)
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (2g)
• 1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon (3g)
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• ½ C canola or vegetable oil (112g)
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 cups, plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (432g)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (5g)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda (5g)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (6g)
• 1 cup milk, room temperature (240g)
• ¾ cup sour cream, room temperature (180g)
• Maple Frosting:
• 1 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 ½ cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon maple extract
• ¼ cup milk
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. For the Cake: Preheat the oven to 350° (177°). Spray two 8-inch round cake pans, then line with parchment paper.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, nutmeg and cinnamon. Mix on medium for 4 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the eggs, one at a time, making sure each is well blended in before adding the next one. Scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
4. Turn the mixer on low and stream in the oil. Add the vanilla and mix for about 1 more minute until completely combined.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the milk and sour cream until blended.
6. Turn the mixer to low and add the flour and milk to the butter mixture, alternating between each in two batches just until combined (don't overbeat or the cake will be tough).
7. Divide the batter evenly between the pans, tapping on the counter to release any trapped air bubbles. Smooth the tops with the back of a rubber spatula or back of spoon.
8. Bake on the center rack of the oven for 40-45 minutes, alternating the arrangement of the pans half way through cooking for evenness. Cakes will be puffed and the center of the cake will bounce back when gently pressed. Set the pans on a cooling rack for about 10 minutes, then run a knife around the edges to release. Turn out onto the rack and let cool completely.
9. For the Maple Frosting:
10. In a mixer stand bowl, add the frosting ingredients together and mix until light and fluffy. Add a teaspoon or two of milk to adjust the texture if you want it a little thinner. Generously frost the top of the bottom layer, add the top layer and use the rest of the frosting on the top and sides of the cake.

Notes

Don't overbeat the batter. Also, after you remove the batter from the mixer stand, stir from the bottom of the bowl to make sure everything from the bottom is mixed in well.

The original recipe calls for 1 ½ teaspoons nutmeg and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. I transposed that because that's too much nutmeg for me.

If you want to make this before an event, go ahead and bake the cakes, let them cool, then wrap individually in plastic wrap. You can store them in the refrigerator or freezer till ready to use. (Easier to frost when the cake is cold, too!)

Each month The Cake Slice Bakers are offered a selection of cakes from the current book we are baking through. This year it is The Cake Book: Beautiful Sweet Treats for Every Craving by Rebecca Firth. We each choose one cake to bake, and then on the 20th - never before - we all post about our cake on our blogs. There are a few rules that we follow, but the most important ones are to have fun and enjoy baking & eating cakes!

Follow our Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest pages where you can find all of our cakes, as well as inspiration for many other cakes. You can also click on the links below to take you to each of our cakes. If you have a blog and are interested in joining The Cake Slice Bakers and baking along with us, please send an email to thecakeslicebakers at gmail dot com for more details.

The Cake Slice Bakers also have a new Facebook group called The Cake Slice Bakers and Friends. This group is perfect for those who do not have a blog but want to join in the fun and bake through this book.

 

 

Spiced Eggnog Cake with Rum Buttercream

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