Eggnog Latte Cake
It's the season for all things spiced and cozy- and this Eggnog Latte Cake with it's delicious balance of espresso, eggnog, and spices is the perfect holiday dessert.
Our eggnog cake recipes (including our homemade eggnog cake, eggnog pound cake, and doctored mix eggnog cake) have been crowd favorites for the past several years. We're so happy to now have an Eggnog Latte Cake to add to the Recipes section!
The eggnog cake layers are flavored with nutmeg, cinnamon, eggnog, and a hint of espresso. We've also brushed the baked cake layers with espresso and frosted with a delicious eggnog cream cheese frosting.
Table of Contents
How to Make Eggnog Latte Cake
You can find the full, printable cake recipe below. Here is a quick rundown of our steps.
As a side note, this recipe is based in part on our scratch eggnog cake recipe- but rather than using the reverse creaming method, this recipe uses the conventional method of creaming. The resulting cake is light, fluffy, and delicious.
- First, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease & flour three 8 inch pans. We also like to line our cake pans with circles of parchment paper.
- In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add the eggnog, vegetable oil, vanilla extract, and dissolved espresso. Blend and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened unsalted butter until smooth. Next, gradually add the white sugar and mix on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until it is fluffy and lightened in color.
- Add the room temperature eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Next, add the flour mixture and the eggnog mixture alternately to the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the flour mixture (3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of the eggnog mixture). Mix the batter until combined and smooth. Do not mix above medium speed or over mix.
- Divide the cake batter between the three prepared pans, smoothing over the tops with the back of a spoon. (You can see in the photo below that I made a cupcake for sampling too!)
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pans and then turn out.
Freezing the Eggnog Latte Cake Layers
This is an optional step, but I like to freeze my freshly baked cake layers while still warm. To do this, I wrap them individually *preferably while still warm*. I place each cake layer on it's own foil wrapped cake board, then cover with plastic wrap followed by foil. Into the freezer they go!
Freezing cake layers not only allows you to bake well in advance (up to three months!) - but also adds an extra boost of moisture to the cake if the cake layers are wrapped while still warm.
Moving very warm, wrapped cakes into freezing temperatures causes additional moisture to form which becomes trapped inside of the cake layers- this is where that boost of moistness comes from.
When ready to thaw, simply remove the cake layers to the kitchen counter and keep them wrapped so that condensation forms on the the foil rather than the cake.
It will just take a couple of hours for the layers to thaw completely, but many cake decorators prefer to work with partially frozen cake layers when assembling and decorating. Partially frozen layers are less fragile and easier to handle.
*Cake layers can be frozen for up to three months when wrapped properly!
Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting
Okay, so there's not actually eggnog in this cream cheese frosting- that is because we don't add liquid to this already soft frosting recipe. However, we are using the spices most often associated with eggnog- nutmeg and cinnamon!
We love cream cheese frostings with our spice cakes and this recipe has such wonderful warm spiced flavor! It couldn't be simpler to make, as it is simply a combination of cream cheese, sifted confectioners sugar, butter, and vanilla.
If you'd prefer to use a buttercream recipe, we have a great Eggnog Buttercream Frosting as well which we used in our Scratch Eggnog Cake.
Tips for Cream Cheese Frosting
Cream cheese frostings like this one are softer than usual buttercream frostings. I like to chill my freshly made bowl of frosting in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes before working with it so that it will be a better consistency for frosting the cake, piping, etc.
If at any time your frosting or piping bag becomes too soft to work with, just pop it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm it back up again.
Assembly of Eggnog Latte Cake
Place first cake layer on the cake plate or pedestal. Brush the top of the cake layer with the coffee syrup.
Next, spread with eggnog cream cheese frosting.
Top with the second cake layer. Brush with coffee syrup, apply eggnog cream cheese frosting, and top with the third cake layer. Brush with more coffee syrup and frost the cake.
You can decorate the cake however you like. I always crumb coat my cakes with a thin coat of frosting first, freeze for about 15 minutes or so to firm up, and then apply the second coat of frosting.
I combed my cake with a cake comb around the sides and then applied a chunky shell border with a 2D piping tip.
More Cakes
We've made many spice cakes over the years, as well as coffee flavored cakes!
Our Pumpkin Spice Cake is always a favorite for fall and winter, as is our Pumpkin Spice Latte Cake.
We also have a cozy Gingerbread Cake as well as a Gingerbread Doctored Cake mix recipe and a Gingerbread Latte Cake (of course)!
For a full listing of our favorite holiday cakes, don't miss our roundup of Fall & Thanksgiving Cakes as well as our Winter and Christmas Cakes!
Eggnog Latte Cake
This moist Eggnog Latte Cake has a delicious balance of espresso, spices, and eggnog flavor! Perfect for winter and holiday gatherings!
Ingredients
- 3 cups (342g) cake flour **(if you do not have cake flour, see below)
- 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon (15g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (2g) salt
- 2 teaspoons (6g) cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon (3g) nutmeg
- 2 sticks (226g) unsalted butter, softened. Do not soften in microwave. Cut the sticks of butter into ½ to 1 inch slices, it will be added a few pieces at a time to the dry mixture.
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 2 teaspoons (8g) vanilla extract
- ¼ cup (54g) vegetable oil
- 1 ¼ cups (313g) eggnog
- 2 teaspoons (4g) instant espresso granules dissolved in 2 teaspoons hot water
For the Coffee Syrup
- ¼ cup ( 50g) sugar
- ¼ cup (114g) water
- 1 Tablespoon (4g) espresso granules or instant coffee granules
For the Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting
- 2 sticks (1 cup) (226g) unsalted butter, slightly softened
- 2 (8oz) packages cream cheese (total weight 452g) I use full fat cream cheese. Using reduced fat or the spreadable cream cheese will cause the frosting to be too soft. Soften very slightly.
- 2 teaspoons (8 g) vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt (2g) optional - it will cut the sweetness, popcorn salt is best to use because it is fine and dissolves faster
- 1 teaspoon (2g) nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon (2g) cinnamon
- 6 ½ cups (747g) powdered sugar
Instructions
- *Preheat oven to 350. Grease & flour three 8 inch pans.
- In a medium sized bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.
- In another bowl, add the eggnog, vegetable oil, vanilla, and dissolved espresso. Blend and set aside.
- In the bowl of your mixer, beat the softened unsalted butter until smooth. Gradually add the sugar and mix on medium speed for 3-5 minutes until it is lightened in color and fluffy.
- Add the eggs one at a time, mixing until the yellow of the yolk disappears.
- Add the flour mixture and the eggnog mixture alternately to the mixing bowl. Begin and end with the flour mixture (3 additions of flour mixture and 2 of the eggnog mixture). Mix until combined and smooth. Do not mix above medium speed or over mix.
- Pour batter into prepared pans, smoothing over the tops with the back of a spoon.
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached. Let the cakes cool for 10 minutes in the pans and then turn out.
For the Eggnog Cream Cheese Frosting
- Cut the butter into slices and add to the bowl of your mixer. Beat on low to medium speed until the butter is softened and smooth.
- Cut the cold cream cheese into pieces and add to the butter, beating at low to medium speed until incorporated. If you are using a hand mixer you may need to soften the cream cheese a bit more.
Add the vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Gradually add the powdered sugar beating on low speed until blended. Cover the bowl with a towel to keep down the cloud of powdered sugar.
- Increase mixing speed and beat until fluffy. Don't over beat or it will become too soft. If it becomes too soft, just refrigerate a short while to firm it up a bit.
- This frosting will pipe best if used while still chilled. You can make it in advance, refrigerate and when ready to use let it soften slightly (do not microwave) and remix.
For the Coffee Syrup
- In a small saucepan, add the sugar and water and bring to a boil.
- Once it begins to boil, remove from the heat and stir in the espresso/coffee granules. Allow to cool.
Assembling the Cake
- Place the first cake layer onto a cake plate or pedestal.
- Brush the top with coffee syrup. I use a silicone pastry brush for this.
- Spread with a layer of frosting. Top with the next cake layer. Brush with coffee syrup. Apply frosting and top with the third cake layer. Brush the top with coffee syrup.
- Frost the cake.
Notes
Substitution for Cake Flour
If you do not have cake flour, you can make your own using all purpose flour (plain in UK).
For each cup of flour, remove 2 Tablespoons (14g) flour and replace with 2 Tablespoons cornstarch.
For this recipe you will be removing 6 Tablespoons (42g) flour and replacing it with 6 Tablespoons corn starch. Whisk for 30 seconds to combine. All purpose bleached flour will give you a more tender cake, but you can also use all purpose unbleached flour. This cake will hold up to fondant
Looks YUM! Super creative!
Hi !
I was wondering how thick each layer was ? Thank you !
Each layer is 1 to 1/4 inch high. Once the cake is filled and frosted it will look just right. We like to use 3 pans to have more frosting in a slice of cake. You could also use two 9 inch pans for taller layers if your like. Hope you will enjoy the recipe.
Hi ! Thank you for your response. I was asking because I was thinking if I half the recipe it will make a 6" ?
Sounds delish! :-)
You could substitute with milk.
Has anyone tried omitting sugar from the coffee syrup step? I believe the cake and frosting would be sweet enough without it and don’t believe the sugar in the syrup would make any structural difference… (But I’m also a black coffee drinker and don’t mind strong coffee flavor!)
Hi Laura, I really think it would be fine to leave out the sugar and just brush the layers with coffee!
My son loves egg nog and cake, and also loves to bake. I am excited to share this recipe with him, he's going to LOVE it!