Eggnog pound cake

Eggnog pound cake

1. Butter a 8.5 x 4.5 inch loaf pan, and dust the inside of the pan with flour to coat. Shake off excess flour. Alternatively, you can line it with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 325°F / 170°C.
3. Weigh out all the ingredients. Sift the flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and baking powder into a bowl, and set aside.
4. Place the softened butter and salt in a bowl, and cream the butter until light, creamy, and fluffy (between 3 – 7 minutes), at medium speed (speed 4 – 5 on a kitchenaid mixer). Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure you get all of the butter, and it's creamed well.
5. Add the sugar, and cream the butter and sugar together for a further 2 - 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
6. Halfway through the mixing process, stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl to make sure the sugar is evenly mixed.
7. Break an egg into a small bowl (make sure there are no egg shells). Add the egg to the butter-sugar mix. Mix for about 20 – 30 seconds until the egg has incorporated into the batter, and there are no traces of egg yolk. Repeat with the other egg and egg yolks, while making sure to stop the mixer and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl halfway through the process.
8. Mix the eggnog and vanilla in a separate bowl or jug and set aside for the next step.

Mixing in the flour by hand (you will need a long-handled baking spatula to fold the flour into the batter)

1. Stop the mixer and remove the mixing bowl from the stand mixer. Sift about ⅓ of the dry ingredients over the batter. Fold the flour into the batter, while rotating the bowl after each fold, until the flour is about 90% incorporated.
2. Add ½ of the eggnog mixture, and continue to fold in the eggnog.
3. Repeat with the dry ingredients, eggnog mixture, and finally the dry ingredients again. Carefully incorporate all of the flour while folding it into the batter (avoid vigorous mixing). This will give you a smooth cake batter.
4. Make sure there are no dry bits of flour in your batter.

Mixing in the flour with a stand mixer

1. Reduce the speed of the stand mixer to the lowest setting (stir speed in a kitchenaid mixer).
2. Add ⅓ of the sifted dry ingredients to the batter and mix for a few seconds until just incorporated. Repeat with ½ of the eggnog mixture, ⅓ of the dry ingredients again, remaining ½ of the eggnog mixture, and finally ending with the remaining ⅓ of the dry ingredients.
3. Make sure to scrape the bowl as you go to prevent dry flour pockets, and also to prevent overworking the gluten.

Baking the pound cakes

1. Scrape half of the batter into the prepared loaf pan. Using an offset spatula, spread the batter evenly, making sure you get to the edges and corners of the pan.
2. Add the rest of the batter, and then evenly spread it again for a flat surface.
3. Gently shake the pan a little to make sure the batter is evenly spread, and knock the cake pan on your kitchen counter 2 or 3 times to remove any air pockets.
4. Transfer the loaf pan into the oven (ideally in the center of the middle rack). Set the timer for 40 minutes. After 40 minutes, rotate the cake pan, and bake for a further 20 minutes. This will depend on your oven, so adjust the time accordingly. I use a conventional oven.
5. Check on the cake after a total of 60 minutes of bake time to test the doneness, using a clean toothpick or a cake tester. Insert the toothpick into the center of the cake, and if it comes out clean, then the cake is done. In my oven, this can take about 60 – 70 minutes to bake.
6. Remove the cake from the oven, and let it cool down for about 10 minutes. Carefully turn the cake out onto a cooling wire rack to cool down completely.
7. Eat warm, or at room temperature, with a glaze or whipped cream topping.

Eggnog glaze

1. Place the confectioner's sugar and salt in a bowl.
2. Add the eggnog 1 tbsp at a time, and whisk it in. Add enough eggnog to get the consistency you prefer.
3. Add rum if you like as well, and whisk it in. I usually add about 3 ½ tbsp of liquid to 6 oz of confectioner's sugar.
4. If the glaze is too runny, you can add a little more confectioner’s sugar. Now the glaze is ready to be poured over the cake.

Rum whipped cream

1. Make sure the heavy cream and the bowl it's in are both chilled. This helps with the proper whipping of the cream.
2. Whisk the cream cheese until light and fluffy in a separate bowl.
3. Add all the ingredients (except the cream cheese) into the same chilled bowl with the cream. Whisk at medium speed until you reach soft peaks. If you °whisk at high speed, the whipped cream can deflate faster, so whisking at a slower speed ensures the whipped cream is more stable.
4. Then add the beaten cream cheese, and continue to whisk until you have stiff peaks.
5. Use immediately to spread it over the surface of your cake.