Everything Old Is New Again!

This wonderful treat came about because I had some eggnog left over from Christmas that was due to expire at the end of January, and I needed a way to use it up fast! After seeking a little bit of inspiration online, I dove into my old cookbooks and found a great Betty Crocker recipe for eggnog cake. It uses as its base this wonderful yellow cake recipe:

Starlight Yellow Cake

2 cups all purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
3½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening (half margarine or butter, softened, if desired)
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 round layer pans or a 9x13 pan. Beat all ingredients in large mixer bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, for 30 seconds. Then, beat on high speed, scraping bowl frequently, for about 3 minutes. Pour into pan(s). Bake until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean, 9x13-40 to 45 minutes, layers-30 to 35 minutes.

I have used this recipe countless times as a basic yellow cake. The Eggnog variation of Betty Crocker's recipe instructs that you add 1 teaspoon of nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon of ginger, and a teaspoon of rum flavoring to the recipe.

Based on this information, here's what I came up with! My special Eggnog Cupcakes!!!

Eggnog Cupcakes
2 cups all purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
3½ teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup shortening (half margarine or butter, softened, if desired)
1 cup eggnog
3 tablespoons spiced rum
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake tins with your choice of liners (I used some of my football cupcake liners since it was close to the Superbowl), or grease with cooking spray. Set aside.

Beat all ingredients in large mixer bowl on low speed, scraping bowl constantly, for 30 seconds. Then, beat on high speed, scraping bowl frequently, for about 3 minutes. Fill the cup cake tins about 2/3 of the way full with batter.

Bake until wooden pick inserted in center of cupcake comes out clean, about 20-24 minutes.

So then I had to come up with a nice frosting for these sweet-smelling little babies. I've been making up frosting recipes since I was a little girl, and here's what I came up with this time:

Spiced Rum Frosting
1 stick salted butter, softened
1 package confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
4 tablespoons spiced rum
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Blend all ingredients together until smooth and creamy. Then, frost your cupcakes! I also added a sprinkle of nutmeg on top of the frosting, just for dramatic effect. I added a bit of extra cream to make the icing nice and gooey - almost like a very thick, luxurious glaze.