Moist and flavorful eggnog cupcakes are topped with a caramel eggnog buttercream in these festive and seasonal Eggnog Cupcakes with Caramel Eggnog Buttercream.
I remember the first time I had eggnog. It was New Year’s Eve. I don’t remember how old I was, but I was fairly young – probably 10-ish. My sister and I (it could have actually been more than one sister, but I don’t remember) were invited to a neighbor’s house. I remember drinking eggnog that night, and when the clock struck 12, we headed outside, banging pots and pans, thinking we were a pretty big deal.
**Side note to add – it has come to my attention that some people think that eggnog is an alcoholic beverage. Eggnog in and of itself is not alcoholic – typically made from milk/cream, sugar and whipped eggs – but alcohol is sometimes added. The eggnog we drank was not alcoholic, as well as the eggnog I use in my recipes. 🙂
I remember being somewhat enamored with that eggnog. Not completely in love with it, though. I’ve never been a big fan of drinking milk – I just don’t love the feeling of the thick liquid in my mouth and throat, and eggnog is like milk x 10. So these days, it’s usually on a few sips until I’m done.
But that eggnog flavor?
I’m totally in.
Which is why I get excited when the holidays come around and I can use eggnog in different recipes. Like these eggnog cupcakes.
I have actually had the idea for these eggnog cupcakes in my head for awhile now. And being the perfectionist that I can sometimes be, it took me a few tries to get these just how I wanted them. And I have to say that the end product ended up even better than I expected.
These Eggnog Cupcakes are topped with a Caramel Eggnog Buttercream. The addition of the caramel adds something different to these cupcakes than your typical eggnog cupcake. I loved the buttercream and really just wanted to eat it with a spoon.
One thing to note – I used dulce de leche for the caramel in this recipe, but I learned that there are actually 2 different kinds of dulce de leche sold in the grocery store. I intended to buy the can, but my grocery store didn’t have any. But they did have dulce de leche in a plastic squeeze bottle. So I bought it. It worked perfectly in this recipe, but that bottled caramel is definitely different than the canned caramel. I wish they would label them differently, because they are not the same consistency at all – the canned dulce de leche is pretty thick, while the bottled is a lot more pourable.
If you are looking for the flavors of the season, these Eggnog Cupcakes with Caramel Eggnog Buttercream are your answer!
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Eggnog Cupcakes with Caramel Eggnog Cupcakes
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 18 mins
- Total Time: 38 mins
- Yield: 16-18 cupcakes 1x
Description
Moist and flavorful eggnog cupcakes are topped with a caramel eggnog buttercream in these festive and seasonal Eggnog Cupcakes with Caramel Eggnog Buttercream.
Ingredients
Eggnog Cupcakes:
- 1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup eggnog
Caramel Eggnog Buttercream
- 1 cup butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup dulce de leche or caramel sauce*
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon rum extract
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cinnamon
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- 1–2 tablespoons eggnog
- freshly grated nutmeg, for decorating
- additional dulce de leche*, for decorating
Instructions
Make the cupcakes:
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Line 16-18 muffin tins with cupcake liners.
- In the bowl of a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in the eggs, one at a time, beating for a full minute after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and rum extracts.
- In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add one-third of the flour mixture to the butter mixture and beat just until combined. With the mixer still running, slowly add half of the eggnog. Add in another one-third of the flour mixture, followed by the remaining eggnog, then the remaining flour, beating after each addition, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
- Fill each of the cups 2/3 full of the batter. Bake until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 minutes. Let the cupcakes cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
Make the buttercream:
- In the bowl of a mixer, cream the butter until very light and fluffy, several minutes. Add in the dulce de leche, vanilla extract, rum extract, nutmeg, salt and cinnamon and beat to combine. Add in the powdered sugar, 1/2 cup at a time, beating until fully incorporated. Add in the eggnog 1 teaspoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency.
To decorate:
- Pipe the frosting onto the cooled cupcakes using your desired tip. (I used the Ateco 809 round tip.) Grate nutmeg over the tops of the cupcakes, the drizzle with dulce de leche. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes:
*The dulce de leche that I used in this recipe was NOT the canned dulce de leche. It was the Nestle Le Lechera brand that comes in a plastic squeeze bottle. This dulce de leche is thinner and more pourable than the canned caramel.
More Eggnog Recipes:
Eggnog Quick Bread with Eggnog Glaze
Around the Web:
Soft Eggnog Sugar Cookies from Your Cup of Cake
Easy Eggnog Pie from Love From the Oven
Eggnog French Toast from Cooking Classy
Eggnog Cheesecake Cake from Shugary Sweets
Eggnog Pull Apart Bread from Lauren’s Latest
tanya says
December 9, 2014 at 4:13 amI have never been a fan of eggnog with alcohol, but I guzzle the plain version! The cupcakes are wonderful. Love the dulce de leche!
Annie @ Annie's Noms says
December 9, 2014 at 8:16 amI love the addition of caramel to these cupcakes! I’ve only just tried eggnog for the first time & I’m in love, so I need to make cupcakes ASAP!
Anna @ Crunchy Creamy Sweet says
December 9, 2014 at 11:31 amJust this past weekend, I had my first glass of eggnog of the season. Loving these cupcakes! The frosting looks crazy good!
Chels R. says
December 9, 2014 at 10:59 pmOh heaven help me, this looks amazing. I LOVED eggnog when I was a kid, but since becoming an adult, I can’t down it the same way I used to. Like 2 sips and I’m done-but I love the flavor and I bet it is delicious in this cupcake.
CakeSpy says
December 10, 2014 at 8:21 amThese cupcakes…I just need one or twelve to spend some time with me right now.
Serena says
December 11, 2014 at 12:17 pmDo you think I could thin caramel sauce with a little hot water? I NEED these cupcakes! (:
Deborah says
December 11, 2014 at 9:59 pmI would maybe try to thin it with milk or cream. You just want it to be a pourable consistency.
Amy says
December 13, 2014 at 7:40 amcan you omit the rum extract?
Deborah says
December 14, 2014 at 11:13 amDefinitely! I won’t have as much of the eggnog flavor, but they will still be delicious! 🙂
Joanne says
December 13, 2014 at 7:59 amThis is definitely the best eggnog recipe I’ve seen all holiday season! Drooling over that buttercream. Big time.
Shelly says
December 22, 2014 at 5:26 amOh these looks so much good and delicious! I love how fluffy and tall the eggnog frosting is, plus the caramel drizzle – these look amazing.
Katlin says
November 22, 2015 at 12:45 pmI just made these today! I LOVED the light nutmeg flavor of the cake, but I felt like the frosting wasn’t flavorful enough. I made it as written at first, but I wound up using a total of 1½ tsp. rum extract, 3/4 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon.
Deborah says
November 24, 2015 at 10:57 pmI’m so glad you were able to make them work for you! 🙂
Ina says
November 29, 2016 at 7:14 pmCan these be made using cake flour? Cake flour tends to make the cupcakes fluffy and moist.
Deborah says
December 4, 2016 at 1:00 amI haven’t tried them with cake flour, but I would guess that they’d work just fine with cake flour.
Emily says
October 26, 2017 at 9:58 amDo you use salted or unsalted butter for the frosting? I’m assuming salted since it doesn’t say otherwise
Deborah says
October 27, 2017 at 12:15 amI used unsalted butter. Feel free to use salted butter, but you might want to cut back on the salt amount in the recipe.
Megan says
December 20, 2018 at 4:53 pmThese look great but the cake recipe says to add half the egg nog and I’m not seeing where ads the second half? Or is it really just a 1/2 cup in the cake and not a 1 cup?
Deborah says
December 21, 2018 at 9:27 amI’m so sorry! There was a typo in the recipe and it said to add the rest of the nutmeg instead of the eggnog. I have fixed the recipe, so it should be correct now!