About This Eggnog Cake Recipe
Eggnog cake is a fun, holiday twist on a classic yellow sheet cake with American buttercream frosting. The yellow cake recipe uses eggnog in place of buttermilk to make an incredibly delicious, moist, and lightly spiced eggnog-flavored sponge cake. And for extra flavor, I also instruct you to use eggnog in the frosting! Don’t forget to top everything off with your favorite holiday themed sprinkles.
For more delicious and festive desserts, check out Hummingbird High‘s Holiday Recipes archive! Popular recipes include Ube Crinkle Cookies and this Tom Cruise Coconut Bundt Cake (Copycat Doan’s Bakery Recipe).
Ingredients and Substitutions
Now that I’ve convinced you to make this eggnog cake, here’s everything you need for the recipe:
Shopping List for Eggnog Cake Recipe
Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card for the exact ingredient quantities:
The Best Eggnog for This Eggnog Cake Recipe
I’ll admit—I am not an eggnog connoisseur. Most of the store-bought eggnog I’ve tried tastes the same to me! But according to both The Food Network and Serious Eats (two legitimate food sources), Turkey Hill Dairy makes the best eggnog.
But I couldn’t find any Turkey Hill eggnog in the supermarkets in my neighborhood. So I settled for Serious Eats‘ second place contender: Organic Valley Eggnog. I liked it enough that I bought it again to drink after making this cake!
How To Make Eggnog Cake
Here are the basic steps to make eggnog cake from scratch:
First, make the eggnog cake.
- Prep the ingredients for the cake. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
All you need to do is measure everything out, and make sure that ingredients like butter, eggs, and eggnog are at room temperature. It’s especially important to pay attention to the ingredient temperatures in this recipe. Why? The recipe contains a lot of fat in the form of butter, eggs, and eggnog. You are the instructed to mix all those together. Everything mixes much better (and faster!) If all the ingredients are at room temperature. - Make the cake. (Work Time: 10 minutes)
Once you’ve prepped the ingredients, it’s time to make the cake. First, whisk together dry ingredients like cake flour, baking powder, and kosher salt in a medium bowl. Then, beat together the butter and sugars in a stand mixer until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, oil, eggnog, and vanilla until you get a thick and almost floofy cake batter texture. Finally, mix in the dry ingredients. That’s it! - Bake the cake. (Bake Time: 40 minutes)
Once you’ve made the batter, it’s time to bake the cake! Pour the batter into a 9 x 13-inch baking pan lined with parchment paper. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center of the cake comes out with just a few crumbs attached.
Next, cool the cake.
- Cool the cake.
Now comes the hard part—cooling the cake! It’s important to wait until the cake is completely cooled before frosting. If you frost the cake while it’s still warm, the frosting will melt all over the place. You’ll just end up with a big mess! So let’s avoid that by cooling the cake in its pan on a wire rack until it’s 100% at room temperature.Depending on the temperature of your kitchen, doing so could take a while. That’s why when I make frosted cake recipes, I typically make the cakes a day ahead of frosting and assembling everything. Doing so ensures that my cakes are completely cool when I finally assemble everything! Plus, I’m not stuck waiting for what feels like forever for the cakes to cool. I can just go live my life, knowing I’ve planned to finish assembling everything the next day.
Then, make the eggnog frosting.
- Prep the ingredients for the frosting. (Prep Time: 5 minutes)
Prepping the ingredients for the frosting is super easy, too. All you need to do is measure everything out, and make sure that the butter and eggnog for the frosting is at room temperature.If you look at my ingredients closely, note that I don’t even instruct you to sift the confectioners’ sugar. That’s not an accident. In this recipe, there’s no need to even sift the confectioners’ sugar beforehand! Because you’ll be beating the frosting at high speeds, most of the lumps will work themselves out in the mixer.
- Make the frosting. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
The frosting comes together VERY quickly. Beat the butter in the stand mixer until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Then, gradually add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup or so at a time, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula as necessary. Once all the confectioners’ sugar is added, add the eggnog and salt. Now comes the fun part—beat on medium-high speed until the frosting is very creamy and smooth, another 2 to 3 minutes.
Finally, assemble the cake.
- Frost the cake. (Work Time: 5 minutes)
Once you’ve made the frosting, it’s time to assemble the cake! I unceremoniously scoop al the frosting on top of the cake. Then, I use a long offset spatula to spread it all over the cake. Once I’m done, I make random swoops and swirls with the spatula all over the frosting and immediately garnish with my holiday sprinkles. The whole assembly and decorating process legit only takes me 5 minutes!
Recipe Troubleshooting and FAQ
Can I make this as a layer cake instead?
Yes! If you want to make this recipe as a layer cake, you have two options. You can bake the batter in two 8-inch OR 9-inch round cake pans to make a 2-layer cake. Follow the recipe instructions to make the batter, then divide it in half between the two cake pans.
If you’re baking the batter in 8-inch cake pans, Bake Time will stay the same at 40 minutes. If you’re baking the batter in 9-inch cake pans, you’ll need to adjust the Bake Time to 35 minutes. However, I would start checking for doneness a little earlier at 30 minutes.
Can you freeze eggnog cake?
Yes, you can freeze the eggnog cake in the following ways:
Freeze the unfrosted eggnog cake for frosting later.
Follow the recipe instructions to make and bake the eggnog sheet cake. However, don’t make the frosting! Instead, cool completely on a wire rack. Once cool, tightly wrap the cake, still in its sheet pan, in plastic wrap. Freeze for up to 3 months.
When ready to serve, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Then, thaw at room temperature for 5 t0 10 minutes while you prep and make the frosting. Doing so will prevent condensation from the cake from bleeding through the frosting. Follow the recipe instructions to assemble and decorate the cake.
Freeze any leftover slices of the assembled eggnog sheet cake.
Tightly wrap any leftover slices of cake in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, transfer to the refrigerator to thaw overnight. Eat chilled, or rewarm for 10 to 20 second intervals in the microwave until room temperature.
Get the Recipe:
Eggnog Cake Recipe
Eggnog cake is the perfect, easy holiday cake recipe to feed a crowd! The cake is made with an eggnog flavored sheet cake topped with eggnog frosting.
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For the Eggnog Cake
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First, make the cake. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350°F. Generously spray a 9 x 13-inch cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
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Mix the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
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Cream the butter and sugars. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter and sugars. Beat on medium until light, fluffy, and doubled in volume, 3 to 4 minutes, using a rubber spatula to scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl as necessary.
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Add the eggs, oil, eggnog, and vanilla. Reduce the mixer to low and add the eggs one at a time, adding the next egg only after the previous one has been fully incorporated, scraping down the bottom and sides of the bowl after each addition. With the mixer on low, slowly pour in the oil, followed by the eggnog and vanilla, and beat until the mixture is smooth, 3 to 4 minutes.
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Add the dry ingredients. Gradually add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, and beat on low for an additional 30 seconds.
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Assemble and bake the cake. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the top of the cake bounces back when gently pressed. A skewer inserted into the center of the cake should come out with a few crumbs attached.
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Cool the cake. Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack before frosting.
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Once the cake is cool, make the frosting. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter on medium-low until smooth and creamy, about 1 minute.Reduce the mixer to low and add the confectioners’ sugar 1 cup at a time, beating until combined. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.Add the eggnog and salt for the frosting all at once and beat on low just to incorporate the liquid. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl once more, then beat on medium-high until the frosting is creamy and smooth, 2 to 3 minutes.
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Assemble the cake. Use an offset spatula to spread the frosting on top of the cake. Then, use the spatula to make large, random sweeping motions across the frosting. The sweeping motions will create swirls. Garnish with sprinkles.
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Serve and store. Serve immediately, or cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
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Weeknight Baking:
Recipes to Fit your Schedule
Over the past several years of running Hummingbird High, I kept a crucial aspect of my life hidden from my readers: I had a full-time, extremely demanding job in the tech world. In my debut cookbook, Weeknight Baking, I finally reveal the secrets to baking delicious desserts on a tight schedule.
