Holiday Eggnog Pound Cake

Eggnog is enjoyed in the United States and Canada during the holidays, but quite possibly it stems from early England, where warm milk was drank in a wooden mug called a nog.  Every Christmas Eve my Mother would have an open house for the entire family to exchange gifts; she'd do all the cooking and my Dad was in charge of making the eggnog.  Well, not really "making" the eggnog, rather he added his infamous combination of  rum, brandy, and bourbon to store bought.  When I was married, I got to try his eggnog--definitely made me a little tipsy, but tasted oh, so good.

Today, I took the memory of my Dad's eggnog and incorporated it into a pound cake, which is my husband's favorite.  This eggnog can be enjoyed by the whole family since I only used a tablespoon of brandy in the batter and definitely the alcohol burns off in baking, but you could use an imitation brandy flavoring.  I made a glaze with an additional eggnog flavoring in it, but you could just dust the cake with confectioners' sugar.

Eggnog Pound Cake with a Nutmeg Streusel

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
3 large eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 T. Brandy (or brandy flavoring)
2 1/2 cups All-purpose flour
1/2 cup Cake Flour
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*

1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup eggnog

Streusel:
1/2 cup All-purpose flour
1/3 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt
3 T unsalted butter, melted

*My new Christmas toy--nutmeg grinder!

Preheat oven 325F-degrees.  Spray a 12-cup bundt pan with a baking spray.  In a small bowl, make streusel.  Mix all the dry ingredients, then, pour melted butter over it and mix, using a fork.

In the KitchenAid, beat butter and sugar until fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Add eggs, one at a time and beat well after each addition.  Add the flavorings and beat again.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.  Alternate adding the dry ingredients and the eggnog, starting and ending with dry ingredients. Beat one minute more to full incorporate.
Spoon half of the batter into the prepared bundt pan.  Sprinkle the streusel over the batter, then, top with the remaining batter.

Bake in the preheated oven 55 to 60 minutes--use a wooden skewer to check for doneness.  Let cool about 10-15 minutes before inverted onto the serving plate.  Mix up a glaze of 1 cup confectioners' sugar, 1 tsp. light Karo syrup, and 2 T hot water in a 2-cup glass measuring cup.  Pour glaze over warm cake and let cool before serving.

Even thought there were miles between us, with the help of SKYPE my husband and I enjoyed having dinner with Erin, Michael, Maddie, Matt and Ari.  At the end of meal, Maddie wanted to sit on Ari's lap and give big hugs for a happy day.  As Clement Clarke Moore wrote..."Merry Christmas to All and to All a good night."  Enjoy!