This recipe for Eggnog Pound Cake makes a beautiful Twelfth Night Cake. Baked in a decorative pan and dusted with powdered sugar, then adorned with simple white and dark chocolate stars, this cake is both pretty and delicious. What makes it particularly special, however, is that the guest who finds a chocolate coin hidden in their slice wins a small prize as we celebrate Epiphany.
The Twelve Days of Christmas
Yes, I know that Christmas Day is more than a week behind us. Still, I am enjoying the Christmas season now that it has arrived and is nearing an end. The pre-Christmas season can be stressful and demanding. The true season of Christmas, however, the twelve days between Christmas Eve and Epiphany on January 6, are often a peaceful interlude. They bridge the build up to Christmas and the renewed order and resolute intentions of a New Year.
With all of the holiday preparation concluded, during the twelve days of Christmas I finally have a chance to slow down. This is the time that I can be fully present with the gifts of the season. I can spend time pouring over holiday cards from friends and family. There is time to enjoy lazy vacation days with my husband and children. I am free to enjoy conversations with neighbors, festive lights and the special foods of the season. And, most of all, I can appreciate the wonderful gift of the baby Jesus, our Messiah, born some two thousand years ago.
Now, as those twelve days of Christmas come to a close, there is one more special treat to prepare. Since my children were small we have made a special effort to celebrate Epiphany. This holiday commemorates the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem to worship and offer gifts to the Christ child. It is recorded in Matthew 2:1-12.
A Twelfth Night Cake to Celebrate Epiphany
Epiphany marks the end of the Christmas season. It is celebrated in many different cultures and, while the particular customs vary, what these celebrations have in common is a special cake. Traditional cakes include a Mexican Christmas bread known as Rosca de Reyes, a French almond filled Galette des Roi, a New Orleans style King Cake and an English Twelfth Night Cake.
Really, though, any cake you like will do. For several years now I have made a traditional King Cake for my family’s celebration. This cake is really a braided yeast bread, drizzled with icing and sprinkled with decorative sugar. It is a wonderful treat but it takes a space of time to make it. The dough needs time to rise, and more time and attention to shape and decorate the cake.
When less time is available I might make a Cinnamon Coffee Cake baked with one large whole walnut or pecan half. It is easy to prepare and my family seldom leaves even a crumb behind.
A store bought cake with a nut or chocolate candy inserted from the bottom will also make a fine cake for Twelfth Night. What matters is that you have a cake with a special candy token or nut in it. Whoever finds the token in their slice of cake receives a small gift. It could be anything: a candle, a star or crown shaped ornament. Even a bag of gold foil covered chocolate coins will do.
Trying Something New
This year I decided to try something new. I adapted a traditional pound cake recipe using some seasonal leftovers in my refrigerator. To employ the custom of a ring shaped cake, I baked the cake in my pretty Nordic Ware Bavarian Bundt Cake pan. I wanted to get the full impression from the details of the pan so I filled it with batter nearly to the top. I left some space for the cake to rise but not as much as I should have. The cake rose beautifully – in fact it overflowed the pan. It smoked but I didn’t want to interrupt the baking process so I turned on the fan and opened the window.
When the cake was done I removed it to a rack to cool. Then I tried to carefully remove the overflow from the bottom of the oven to stop the smoking. That’s when I learned that pound cake batter not only smokes when it burns but will, in fact, burst into flames if prodded indelicately. Luckily no great harm ensued. Lesson learned: wait until everything cools down before attempting to clean up.
When the Eggnog Pound Cake was completely cool, I turned it over and made small incisions to insert, not just one this time, but three chocolate coins – one to represent each of the three gifts brought by the Magi to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. After turning it back over and settling it on a platter, I dusted it with powdered sugar, to highlight the details from the pan, and decorated it with simple stars made of white and dark chocolate to create a festive Twelfth Night Cake. I think it turned out beautifully.
Enjoy!
Twelfth Night – Eggnog Pound Cake
Course: Celebration, Dessert, Epiphany12
servings45
minutes1
hour1
hour45
minutesBaked in a decorative pan, dusted with powdered sugar, and decorated with simple white and dark chocolate stars, this special cake is both pretty and delicious.
Ingredients
3 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, softened
6 large eggs
1 1/2 cups eggnog
Powdered sugar, for dusting
1/2 cup chocolate chips, for making stars
1/2 cup white chocolate chips, for making stars
3 chocolate coins, for tokens to hide in the cake
3 small gifts, for those who find the tokens
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325F.
- Grease and flour a 10-inch Bundt pan or spray well with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, cream together the sugars and butter with an electric mixer.
- Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition to fully incorporate.
- Add the flour mixture one-third at a time, alternating with the eggnog. Beat until smooth.
- Transfer the batter to the prepared Bundt pan being careful not to overfill. (Place any remaining batter in a smaller prepared pan, such as a loaf pan.) Bake at 325F until it tests done, approximately 1 hour.
- Remove cake from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove cake from pan and allow to rest on the wire rack until completely cool.
- When cool, turn cake upside down. Make three hidden slits in the bottom of the cake with a sharp knife. Carefully push a chocolate coin or candy into the slit until hidden in the cake.
- Turn the cake onto a serving platter. Sprinkle with a little powdered sugar. Decorate with chocolate stars, if desired.
- To Make Chocolate Stars:
- Melt 1/2 cup of chocolate chips or white chocolate chips in a small container. When melted and smooth, scrape the chocolate into a small Ziploc bag and trim 1/4 inch from a lower corner of the bag.
- Pipe the soft chocolate in rough star shapes onto a baking sheet or cutting board covered with waxed paper or parchment paper.
- After covering the surface with stars, place the stars in the refrigerator for five minutes or so, or until set and firm. Peel the stars from the paper and arrange on and around the cake.
Notes
- Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe for Caramel Pound Cake posted by Kim at A Yankee in a Southern Kitchen.
Thanks, Barbara! You are so right! I've updated the recipe and am hoping that it is now fully adapted. 🙂 I'm glad the cake turned out well for you. Happy New Year!
We enjoyed this delicious recipe this year for Twelfth Night. Thank you for sharing.
Just fyi…your recipe states "Add the flour mixture one-third at a time, alternating with the buttermilk. Beat until smooth." I assumed you meant eggnog 😉
Wow… this looks delicious! i want some…
Happy New Year Lisa! I remembered that you made King Cakes and this one looks lovely too. I can't believe it caught on fire while you were cleaning it from the oven!
If I wasn't so lazy and didn't have half of a rum cake left, this would be a great tradition for Epiphany. You're so right about this more peaceful time. And, I'm still enjoying our lit tree at night.
Oh that is gorgeous, beautifully done!
Happy New Year and all the best for 2010!
What a beautiful tradition, Lisa. Your eggnog poundcake looks delish and I love the tradition of hiding a little treasure inside.
Such a wonderful tradition and the cake with eggnog sounds delightful!
lisa, this is so special! i love it–everything from the chocolate stars to the deeper meaning behind the cake makes this something to treasure. 🙂