Love it or hate it, Eggnog is definitely a seasonal treat this time of year. I had a friend send me this recipe to try out that she found online and when I saw it required a box mix as a base, I was hooked. This recipe offers a bundt cake style eggnog cake with an eggnog glaze on top. It is easy but requires a bit more than a standard box mix. Let’s jump in and see how this recipe comes out.
The first step is simply to combine all the ingredients and mix. They suggested using a stand mixer, rather than hand mixing, so I got my mixer out. I placed yellow cake mix (dolly parton’s), french vanilla pudding mix, eggnog, eggs, oil, nutmeg, water, and vanilla into the mixing bowl and mixed it together. It came together easily and was a thick, almost gummy like consistency. I have found that when I incorporate eggnog into a recipe it turns a bit gummy no matter what recipe it is used in. While I am unsure if it is brand specific, or eggnog specific, I have come to expect it and was not surprised to see the cake mix act this way as well.
Since the batter was thick, I had no concerns pouring it into my bundt pan. I have a flat, boring, bundt pan that is similar to a springform pan and it comes in two pieces, the outside edge piece and then the bottom with the metal cone in the middle is a separate piece that is put into the edge piece and held together with gravity and hope. This leaves room for thin batter to seep out through the spot where the metal pieces join. The batter filled in the pan about 1/3 of the way and I quickly put it into the oven to bake.
The cake went into the oven at 350 degrees and he recipe called for baking the cake for 45-55 minutes. At 45 minutes my cake testing stick came out clean and the cake was baked. I pulled it out and set it aside to cool while I moved onto the glaze for the top. The glaze consists of eggnog, melted butter, vanilla, nutmeg, and powdered sugar. It was thicker than I had expected and the flavor was subtle, I think it could’ve used more nutmeg or more spices to pull out the flavor of the eggnog.
When the cake was mostly cooled I pulled it out of the pan and placed it on a plate. Then I spooned the glaze over the top. It held it’s place and perfectly covered the top of the cake. I think a normal textured bundt would have looked better here but I think my flat round bundt did a good job here. I cut a slice of the cake out and found the glaze had already started seeping into the cake despite the cake being cooled. The recipe said it was optional to wait for the cake to cool or to glaze it while still warm and I really feel like both would work great. My glaze stayed thicker on the top of the cake so maybe if you want to enhance the look of a textured bundt, adding the glaze while warm will allow it to melt into the correct shape.
This cake is amazing. Soft, moist, and the right amount of flavor. I don’t think the eggnog flavor was too strong but it came across more as a spice cake. It didn’t taste like a box mix which is good, but it was just as easy as a box mix would’ve been. This recipe took a box mix and brought it up a level. The pudding mix was a great touch to keep this dessert moist. I think this is the perfect holiday dessert that will wow every one of your guests and have them asking for the recipe. I would happily make this dessert for any holiday party I attend.
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