Nothing says Christmas like spiced drinks and decadent cakes. Every year around this time I look forward to having a glass of of my favorite eggnog alongside a slice of West Indian fruit cake. The flavors of the season give me the warm and fuzzies. Last year for Christmas I made this delicious eggnog pound cake and everyone raved about it, but little did they know- it wasn’t a from-scratch cake. This is the perfect recipe for someone who wants to make a pretty dessert without all the work. Not to mention it’s also a stunner in a cake stand or dessert table. Take it to your company’s holiday party to seal in that promotion 😉
This eggnog pound cake is loosely adapted from Taste of Home. I add less nutmeg to the batter. Personally two teaspoons (what the originally recipe calls for) is too overwhelming. I include a little bit of lemon zest to help bring out all the flavors and use boxed pound cake mix instead of yellow cake mix- pound cake mix results in a firmer texture. The batter will fit perfectly in a standard size loaf pan (9x5x2). You could also use a smaller loaf pan and make the remaining batter into little cupcakes.
I posted a sneak peek of this cake on my instagram stories and one follower mentioned this cake could work well with Trinidadian ponche de creme instead. I thought that was a great suggestion. You could even replace the eggnog with coquito. I would add a splash of coconut extract to bring out the flavor if you go that route.
The hardest part of this recipe is making the crystallized cranberries- if you choose to add them. Find the recipe here. The icing drizzle is perfect and pours up beautifully. It hardens up just enough so the icing doesn’t break. Although I used it pound cake mix I didn’t compromise the quality of the other ingredients I used a good butter from Kerrygold and real vanilla extract. Good quality ingredients help make this cake taste like it was from scratch.
Looking for a from scratch recipe? Try these!
If you’re in the mood to cream some butter and sugar I have three other yellow cake recipes for you to try.
You can omit the cranberries and icing all together and simply serve this by itself or with a side of whipped cream and fresh berries.
Here is the link for the loaf pan I used. You can see the imprint from the pan was left on the cake. No big deal, but if the imprint bothers you, I recommend using a smooth pan. And here’s the link for the pound cake mix I used.
Easy Eggnog Pound Cake
Ingredients
Pound cake
- 1 16oz box pound cake mix
- 1 ¼ cups egg nog
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup softened butter, unsalted
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ lemon zest
Icing
- 1 ½ cups confectioner's sugar
- pinch of salt
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
- 7-8 teaspoons milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- In a mixing bowl, empty boxed cake mix. Add nutmeg, mix.
- In a separate bowl mix together all other ingredients then add to bowl with cake mix. Blend until smooth.
- Line loaf pan with parchment paper or butter and flour your pans. Pour batter in and shake slightly to level batter.
- Bake 40 min (or more) until toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Let cake cool completely before icing.
Icing
- In a small mixing bowl, combine sugar, salt, and butter, and vanilla.
- Add milk 2 teaspoons at a time until consistency is where it can be drizzled.
Notes
Zest only a ¼ or ½ half of a lemon. Anything more will turn this into lemon pound cake.
Lisa says
Looks so yummy as usual a must try! Thank you so much Alica,the holidays will not be possible without your recipes!
Daniel says
Loved this recipe! So I tried your recipe then I made another batch and used half the measurements of clove cinnamon and all spice from the original recipe and made a cream cheese icing…it was a huge hit!!!