Happy New Year, everybody! I can’t believe it’s 2013. Back when I was a kid, I figured we’d be in flying cars by now, with colonies on the moon. It’s hilarious to read old science fiction novels or watch old sci fi tv shows ‘n movies where the plots are set in this timeframe, with all the crazy things they forecasted that haven’t come to pass.
Here are the Jetsons in their flying car. While we’re at it, where the hell is my robot maid?
I can’t wait until we figure out how to hyperspace. I hate leaving my apartment and driving on cold, wet, rainy days. Wouldn’t it be amazing if we just walked into our hyperspace chambers and voila, we were instantly transported to our destinations? Y’know, kinda like Mario’s warp zones:
Technology advances at a rapid pace but I can’t say the same about people. If we were in flying cars, fatality rates for accidents would be astronomical! As it is, we can’t even get rid of the common cold quick enough.
The Husband and I spent New Years Eve at home, with him nursing a bad cold. Sadly we had to miss our annual NYE hot pot with friends but we spent a lovely evening in, getting as much as we can out of our free month of Netflix. We watched Jiro Dreams of Sushi, which I enjoyed but it bored the Husband to tears. We also started watching Breaking Bad and we’re seriously addicted. There’s nothing like a dude with cancer cooking meth and an old guy making sushi to ring in the New Year!
It may be a bit too late to post this recipe since eggnog flew off the store shelves right after Christmas but I wanted to share just because it’s so incredibly delicious and easy to make. The last item that I made for my Annual Day of Baking was this eggnog layer cake.
Eggnog cake (this is bakingdom’s recipe – the amount of sugar I have listed here has been decreased from the original recipe)
4 large eggs, room temperature
1/2 cup eggnog, room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup cake flour
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter two 8″ round cake pans.
In a small bowl or a glass measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, eggnog and vanilla. Set it aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl or in the bowl of your stand mixer, cream the butter. Turning the mixer to low, slowly add in the flour mixture. As the butter and flour incorporate, it will become sandy in appearance. Add half of the eggnog mixture and mix on medium speed until light and fluffy. Slowly pour in the rest of the eggnog mixture until fully combined.
Divide the batter between the two cake pans. Bake the cakes for 20-24 minutes or until a cake tester comes out with only a few clinging crumbs.
I made this cake twice – once for Christmas Eve dinner with my family and the second time for my Annual Day of Baking. I used two different frostings and while both were delicious, I preferred the cream cheese version.
Eggnog buttercream:
2 tbsp eggnog
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 to 1 1/2 cup icing sugar
Cream the butter until light and fluffy. This takes time – sometimes I takes me almost 10 minutes on medium/medium-high speed to get the butter looking fluffy as whipped cream. Add the eggnog, vanilla and nutmeg, continue creaming. With the mixer on medium low speed, slowly add the icing sugar until it reaches your desired consistency and sweetness.
Buttercream version.
White Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting:
2 packages of cream cheese, room temperature
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chips, melted
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup icing sugar (or more if you like your frosting on the sweet side)
Cream the cream cheese and butter together until light and fluffy. Add the melted white chocolate and vanilla; mix to combine. With the mixer on medium low speed, slowly add the icing sugar until it reaches your desired consistency and sweetness.
Cream cheese frosting.
One of my 2013 foodie goals is to learn how to properly frost and decorate cakes!
Even the Husband, who’s not a fan of eggnog, enjoyed this cake. The cake flour makes it super delicate, with a moist, tight crumb. Both frostings were delicious – the buttercream subtle and smooth on the tongue, with just a hint of eggnog and nutmeg. The cream cheese frosting is all up in your face – it’s super creamy, sweet but not overpowering. The perfect compliment to the flavourful cake.
I hope you all had a fabulous holiday season. Happy New Year – may 2013 bring you only the best and of course, lots ‘n lots of delicious food.
I think some flavors are good year round. I´ve been wanting to make homemade eggnog (we don´t have it here) all this last month, just to try it in recipes like this cake. It sounds amazing! Hope 2013 is the best year yet!
Hey Paula! No eggnog where you live? That’s tragic! You should definitely try making homemade eggnog, just so that you can use it in recipes 😉 Let me know if you do – I’d love to try your recipe! Happy New Year to you too, sweet lady!
To say its gorgeous is still an understatement. So delicious and tempting! Happy New Year, sweet Nancy!! xo
Aww, thanks Anna! Compliments from you are truly appreciated! I try…but I know that my cake decorating skills are pretty pathetic. I’m definitely going to take a decorating course this year so that they’ll hopefully look as good as they taste. Happy New Year to you too!
Oh How is wish you lived next door… I want to come and bake with you! Wishing you a New Year filled with love and inspiration!
We would have so much fun! We could bake together, then I could eat all the delicious foods you cook and learn a thing or two 😉 Happy New Year to you too, dear Isabel!
Happy New Year! looks like a lovely cake! xxx
Thanks, lady! I hope you had a fabulous holiday season and a delicious 2013 so far!
Nancy, what a beautiful cake!!!! I eyed that one from the photos of your baking spread in your last post. . glad you posted this recipe! Beautiful and I LOVE the frosting job!
Thanks, dearest Alice! As for the lines on the cake, I bought this Wilton’s frosting decorating thing – it’s a plastic triangle that has different designs on each side. I’ll take a pic of it and send it to you. It’s like a cheater’s way to decorate cake, lol (apparently the only way I can make a cake look good 😉
What did you use to make those lines? I love it!
Happy New Year Nancy! Haha I used to love the Jetsons! The cake looks beautiful and delicious. I’d like to shove my face in the icing, lol!
Thanks, Brandi! I used to watch the Jetsons all the time too. It was always on right before or after the Flintstones, so kinda like tv time travelling. I hope you’ve had a wonderful New Year so far – I can’t wait to start incorporating some of your recipes into my diet, especially after all the pigging out I did over the holidays!
You’re such an entertaining writer! The cake was lovely and i feel privileged to have tasted it.
Happy New Year Nancy! I love anything you bake. When I saw this cake I wanted to make it right away. I know I know I need to stop remaking all your recipes but imitation is the biggest form of flattery. You may be bringing out the inner baker in me. I can’t eat the cake but I just want to make it and taste a small bite of it. Ok a big bite but don’t tell anyone.
Thank you, lovely Sarah! I have no problem with you making all my cakes – the reason I post them is because I’ve tried them, loved them, and want everyone to try them too. And you’re right – imitation is the best form of flattery. I’ll never be able to imitate your beautiful frosting skills or killer photography. And you can have a big ol’ slice of cake and shouldn’t feel the tiniest bit of guilt 😉
This looks to die for. So glad I have stumbled across your blog – I’ll be back for sure. Happy New Year
Thanks so much for your lovely comment – I’m so glad you visited! Happy New Year to you too!
Happy New Year, Nancy!
Love eggnog and sooo glad to see the lovely stuff in cake form. And am looking forward to tasting this delight!
BTW I’ve repinned two shots of your eggnog cake onto my Gateaux & Great Desserts at Pinterest.
I LOVE eggnog too. It’s funny cause I can’t drink the stuff straight up but I’m addicted to the flavour. That plus gingerbread were my two go-to flavours this year. I’m so flattered that you repinned my photos. I signed up for a pinterest account at least four months ago and I still have NO idea how to use it! That’ll be one of my foodie resolutions this year, lol. Happy New Year to you too!
THIS IS IT! This will be my resolution for 2013 – eat more cake, lol. This looks so fabulous and simply delicious. Love the design, too.
That’s a resolution I can totally get behind! Thanks for the kind comments, Linda. Happy New Year!
I could eat this whole cake! I love eggnog with a passion.
Is it absurd to say that I’ve never tried eggnog before? Every year I say I’m going to try it but the name on it’s own just throws me off! Maybe cake form would be a good way to ease myself into it? 😉 haha. I’m with you on the Breaking Bad addiction though, my boyfriend and I just finished the 3rd season on Netflix!