Rum Cake

I think I know why pirates are so crazy about rum. They go on and on singing about how much they like to drink it, but the truth is they’ve got a baker-pirate down in the galley making this cake. They just can’t figure out how to stick that in a song and still sound scary.

You really must try this. It’s absolutely the moistest cake you will ever make, and it gets better by the day — although it rarely makes it to the three-day mark in our house. It’s so good that my 15-year old requests it for her birthday cake, which is in August. And it’s been a December staple in our house for a good twenty years, ever since the Christmas my mother-in-law first brought it to the table. I never bothered to ask her where she got the recipe … I don’t much care. 🙂 I’m just glad I have it.

Rum Cake

For the cake:

• one box Golden Yellow cake mix w/pudding
• 4 eggs
• one small box vanilla instant pudding
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup rum (I’ve used both dark and light and it’s good with either)
• 1/2 or so chopped nuts. I usually use pecans, but walnuts are good too.

For the glaze:

• one stick butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup rum

Spray a bundt pan w/Pam (you could make this in a regular pan I s’pose, but it’s just so pretty in a bundt pan that I think you should go get one if there’s not already one in your baking cupboard). Here’s a picture of the finished product to entice you into buying the bundt:

Chop the nuts fairly small and sprinkle in bottom of pan.

Mix up the cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, oil, milk and rum. Blend a few minutes to make sure it’s good and mixed. Pour over nuts in pan.

Bake cake for 1 hour @ 325. Check to make sure it’s done in the middle. Let cool, then invert over plate and loosen from pan.

Make the glaze: Bring the butter, sugar and water to a boil and cook for five minutes to make sure the sugar is completely melted. Remove from stove and add the rum.

Prick the cake all over with a fork or a toothpick. Using a spoon or a brush (I’m fond of the brush, myself), drizzle the glaze all over the cake, allowing time for it to soak in. If any glaze pools up on the plate, just scoop it back up and force it to stay on the cake. You don’t want to miss a drop of this glaze. I think one of the reasons I like the bundt pan so much is that you’re able to glaze all but the very bottom of the cake.

This cake pretty much demands you top it with a big dollop of whipped cream.