To Make the Cake:

1. Preheat oven to 325°F.  An oven thermometer will help you reach the right oven temperature; our ovens are often off, and that makes a huge difference!
2. Sift all-purpose flour, baking soda, nutmeg, and kosher salt into a medium bowl.  Set aside.
3. Add butter to the bowl of a stand mixer or a large mixing bowl.  Mix the butter until it is completely smooth.
4. Add granulated sugar and cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Take your time with this step!  (Not sure what properly creamed butter and sugar should look like?  Take a look here!)
5. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing until each egg is completely incorporated.  Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed.  
6. Add the vanilla and mix until completely incorporated.
7. Add half of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.
8. Add all of the egg nog and mix until just incorporated. 
9. Add the other half of the flour mixture and mix until just incorporated.  Give the batter several turns with a stiff spatula.
10. Prepare the bundt pan as your normally would (I use the butter/flour method, and you can see how to do that right here!).  
11. Add the batter to the pan.
12. Bake for 60-70 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 210°F-215°F.  My Goldilocks temp is 212°F. 
13. Remove from the oven and allow to place on a cooling rack, in its pan, for ten minutes.  Place a piece of parchment paper under the cooling rack!
14. After ten minutes, invert the cake onto the cooling rack. 

To Make the Optional Butter Rum Simple Syrup:

1. Combine water, sugar, vanilla and salt in a small sauce pan.  
2. Bring the mixture to a boil, then whisk occasionally until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Remove from the heat and add rum and butter.   Stir gently until the butter is completely melted.  This recipe makes enough butter rum simple syrup to brush the cake one time.
4. Using a pastry brush, gently brush the butter rum simple syrup over the entire cake.  This step can be repeated multiple times while the cake is warm.  It’s recommended to wait about ten minutes between simple syrup layers.
5. If you’re trying to make a more boozy cake, you can poke holes in the top of the cake and pour the butter rum simple syrup directly over the holes.  I would only recommend doing this once though.
6. Allow the cake to cool completely before glazing. (3-5 hours)

To Make the Rum Glaze:

1. Add the confectioner’s sugar, fine sea salt, one tablespoon of whole milk, and rum (if using, otherwise add one more tablespoon of whole milk) to a medium mixing bowl.  Stir until the mixture is mixed but clumpy.  If all of the confectioner’s sugar won’t incorporate into the clumpy mixture, add another 1/2 tbsp of whole milk.
2. Add heavy cream to the mixture and stir until smooth.
3. The final glaze should have the consistency of very thick honey.
4. Pour over the cake with a spouted measuring cup, squeeze bottle or a spoon.  
5. Wait for 3-5 minutes, then add decorating sugar (if using) for an additional pop of sparkle and crunch!
6. Enjoy!