Bacardi's Rum Cake

Spiced chocolate rum cake

 

This cake is such a holiday treat.  It always tastes great, everybody loves it and it's an easy recipe.  Dieters beware and look the other way.  I recently dug out the recipe for a friend who made the original yellow cake version recently here  http://carfreeinannarbor.blogspot.com/2010/11/pioneer-womans-rum-cake.html

With the impending holiday season, I was inspired me to make my chocolate version for an upcoming holiday party.  I like to double and quadruple recipes (I"m not smart enough to triple recipes on the fly) and freeze deserts for later.

Ingredients for 2 chocolate rum cakes

FOR ONE CAKE:

• 1 box (about 18 Oz.) Devil's Food Cake Mix
• 1 package (3.5 Oz.) INSTANT Chocolate Pudding Mix
• 4 whole Eggs
• ½ cups Cold Water
• ½ cups Canola Oil
• ½ cups Spiced Rum (dark Or Light Is Fine)
• 1 cup Chopped Pecans ( I don't put these in - you know...kids)
• Brown Sugar (optional, goes with the pecans)

SINGLE BATCH of GLAZE

• 1-½ stick Butter
• ¼ cups Water
• 1-½ cup Sugar
• ¾ cups Rum

Preheat oven to 325 F.

Grease and flour a bundt cake pan. (I like to use a heavy dose of Pam, and let the pans drip out while I prepare the batter, to ensure an even coating.  Cakes are tricky to get out of detailed molds, which is another reason that I don't use the nuts and sugar option.)

Nordic Ware pans - clean, dry and a heavy spray with Pam.  Allow Pam to drip out for even coating

Pam stains from letting the pans drip

If using the nuts, sprinkle nuts over bottom of pan. If desired, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of brown sugar over the nuts.

pans ready for the oven

Mix all cake ingredients together. Pour batter into pan over nuts. Smooth out ’til the top is even. Bake for 1 hour, or a little less if the pan is black. Do not overbake!

cake right out of the oven and prepping glaze

Glaze:
Original Recipe

While cake has ten minutes to go, make the glaze.

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off flame and pour in rum. Stir to combine and reheat for 30 seconds.

Remove cake from oven. Immediately drizzle 1/3 of the glaze on the bottom (top) of the cake.

Allow to sit for five minutes. Invert the cake onto a serving plate. Prick surface a hundred times with a fork (gently, please.) Slowly drizzle remaining rum glaze all over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides.

Cool to room temperature before serving to ensure glaze has soaked in.

My version:  cheater way

When the cake is done baking, take out of the oven and set aside.

Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in water and sugar. Boil for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Turn off flame and pour in rum. Stir to combine.

After about 10 minutes, turn cake out into a bowl just large enough to fit the cake,  wide-side down.   Pour hot syrup over cake. 

After an hour, flip cake over, and continue to let cool and absorb the syrup.  When that's done, gently lift from the bowl and place on a serving dish.

When these cakes are completely cooled, I'll tuck them both in the freezer until needed.

Happy Holiday

Astrid

Weight Watchers: the whole cake (without the optional nuts and brown sugar) is 203 PointsPlus.  1/16 of the cake is 13 points.  These cakes slice nicely with a thin knife - a 24th of the cake is 8 points.  This is obviously not a cake to hover over at a party or pick at when nobody is watching.  Enjoy a sliver and move on!