12.24.15
Tomorrow is Christmas. And it’s my first Christmas spent in NYC ever. With my husband. I couldn’t be more excited. We will miss our families a lot, but starting a new tradition is always fun and beginning new chapters are always something to look forward to.
This cake will make your Christmas even more fun. It looks nice, it tastes great, and I think in cake world it’s not too complicated. So don’t let this cake have all the fun with its tipsy ingredients, feel free to indulge yourself with a little bourbon or eggnog, it’s a hard cake to mess up.
This was my crowning glory at my Christmas party on Friday. My baking guru, Courtney, helped make it (while we also started about three other projects at the same time), and drank some beers so maaayyyyybe an ingredients pictures wasn’t taken for the cake portion.
But for the eggnog buttercream
Oh and there is a basic orange and bourbon soak
Why is baking with Courtney so fun? For a lot of reasons, but also she just is a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the science of baking. Like when I almost left my apartment to run out and buy buttermilk and Courtney stopped and educated me on how to make my own. Since the acid is what’s important, as long as the milk contains some type of that, you’re good to go.
And people are constantly telling me how they’re scared to bake and how it’s so precise, but let me tell you, those measurements for the spices in this recipe are totally made up. Because after we had the basics in the bowl, we just threw in a bunch of spices in undetermined amounts that looked good. And we tasted the batter and it was perfect. So…….make this cake and tell me how my spice measurements are…more? Less? It goes to prove you just have to go with your gut sometimes, and not a recipe.
If you’re in charge of dessert on Christmas, make this and wow everyone, because the flavor profiles of the egg nog and the cake spices (with that bourbon/orange soak to keep it moist….ugh I hate that word but it’s true), all just work together really well.
I still have a few more recipes to share before the new year! And some exciting new ideas for Domestic B(i)atch in 2016! But as always…..I’m taking requests, so what do you want me to make?! Email me at ashley@domesticbatch.com or leave a comment!
Merry Christmas to You and Yours!
Drunken Eggnog Spice Cake
Ingredients
For the Cake
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3 cups AP flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 Tbsp ground ginger
- 2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 Tbsp nutmeg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 cups sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cup buttermilk (we made ours**)
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- zest from 1 orange
For the Soak
- Fresh juice squeezed from 1 orange
- Splash of bourbon
For the Frosting
- 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 4 Tbsp eggnog
Instructions
For the Cake
- Spray 2 9″ cake pans with nonstick cooking spray (I use organic coconut oil spray, love it), and line the bottom of both with parchment paper, give the top of the paper a quick spray as well
- Preheat oven to 350
- Whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices, set aside
- In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment on medium speed cream butter until fluffy, about 2 minutes
- Slowly pour in sugar and add eggs one at a time, allowing each to mix thoroughly before adding the next, scrape down sides of the bowl through all this as needed
- Add buttermilk, then slowly add in flour mixture, about half a cup at a time on low speed, add vanilla
- -once batter comes together this is the time to taste a little to see if the flavors are to your liking, adjust accordingly-
- Evenly distribute batter between 2 pans
- Bake for 25-30 minute, rotating at halfway point to ensure an even bake, make sure a tester comes out clean in the middle before removing from oven, otherwise pop it in a few more minutes
- Allow to cool, then flip pans upside down to remove cakes
- Once fully cooled, take a serrated bread knife and cut off the domes of the cakes, creating a flat surface (eat the scraps)
- Squeeze all the juice from an orange into a small bowl and add a splash of bourbon
For the Frosting
- Put all ingredients except eggnog into bowl of stand mixer, on low speed with paddle attachment
- Mix together thoroughly and slowly stream in eggnog, switch to medium speed
- Allow buttercream to combine for a few minutes and bump it up to high speed right before the desired consistency for about 45 seconds until that thick delicious frosting is created
To Assemble
- Place first cake on cake stand
- Use a pastry brush to liberally soak the top of the cake with orange and bourbon mix
- Cover the top of the cake with buttercream, using an offset spatula to cover evenly
- Place second cake on top and repeat process from first, making sure to add extra frosting in any areas that aren’t even on the cake (frosting helps everything!)
- Sprinkle a little cinnamon on top for decor
- This cake is best kept at room temperature, but if needed, can be wrapped in plastic and stored in the fridge, just make sure to allow it to get back to room temp before enjoying
P.S.
*I made the super hip ‘naked cake’ that’s all the rage these days, if you prefer to cover the whole cake with frosting, make two or even three batches of the frosting to ensure there’s plenty to go around
*Don’t have buttermilk?? Pour 1 tbsp lemon juice to 1 cup of milk and whisk gently, allow to sit for about 10 minutes to thicken, and use as you would buttermilk!
Adapted from Martha Stewert
