Sunday 4 September 2011

Golden rum cake

Today I celebrate The Caked Crusader’s 4th birthday. It doesn’t feel that long ago that I received an ‘all you need to know about blogging’ masterclass from my friend Soo but I guess time flies when you’re having fun.


Now I’ll admit that I have one or two cookery books in my possession but that doesn’t mean I’ll turn away new ones! When Quirk books kindly offered a free copy of Krystina Castella’s “Booze Cakes” I was delighted; it was a book that had been on my radar for some time. Further, as luck would have it, I’d just purchased a new bundt tin (a Wilton Dimensions Cascade tin) and was desperate to try it out!


The golden rum cake recipe stood out to me as I have a passion for rum cake, borne of many lovely work trips to the Bahamas and memories of the wonderfully aromatic Tortuga Rum Cakes shop.
With some shame, I can confess that, on one trip, I had to buy an extra suitcase while I was out there, in order to bring all my purchases back – a case full of rum cakes (nb. I am not exaggerating for comedic effect; I speak the cold hard truth). This recipe gets pretty close to those heavenly creations.


I have made a rum cake before (recipe can be found here
) but it was more of a nutty rum cake. This one replicates the more yellow, pudding-y rum cakes and has rather more booze in it! You can see the rum saturation in this slice:


From memory, this is the first cake I’ve ever made where I think it needs to come with a “drink and drive” warning. Because the rum glaze contains rum where the alcohol isn’t cooked out, it does pack a punch. Bear it in mind if you’re partaking in this cake and have already had a beverage or two. Be safe out there, people!


I think you could cut back on the quantities in the glaze if you weren’t that into rum. Some of my eaters found it too strong...while others loved it. The cake definitely mellows with age and the punchy strength of the rum softens; the cake is huuuuuge but this doesn’t matter because a) it’s heavenly, and b) it keeps a week in an airtight container.


As the recipes in the book are American, they are only given in cups.
I have converted them to metric but include the cups for anyone who prefers them.

I finish on a more serious note. My friend, Soo, the one I have to thank for getting me into blogging and introducing me to a whole new world is supporting a really important charity – the Canadian Parkinson’s Society. The charity funds research into Parkinson’s and I’m sure you’ll all agree that any findings will benefit sufferers the world over. You can read more about it and make donations via Soo’s site.

Just one last sweetener to add; Soo being Soo, she’s offering great gifts (awesome earrings that she’s made) for anyone donating over $10 (that’s about £6) and also entry into a prize draw for anyone who donates.


Ingredients

For the cake:

230g / 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
400g / 2 cups caster sugar
4 eggs
375g / 3 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
250ml / 1 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
180ml / ¾ cup golden rum – I used Mount Gay Golden rum (oh Tortuga – why don’t you export?)

For the glaze:

60g / 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
200g / 1 cup caster sugar
63ml / ¼ cup water
125ml / ½ cup golden rum

Method

Preheat the oven to 180˚C/fan oven 160˚C/350˚F/Gas mark 4

Grease a 9-10” bundt tin (that’s approx 23-25cm). As bundt tins have fine details and I wanted the cake to retain those, I used a cake release spray – it gets into the nooks and crannies of complicated moulds better.

Cream together the butter and sugar – dedicate a lot of time to this, until the batter turns pale and light textured – almost like whipped cream. I can sometimes spend 10 minutes or more on this stage.

Beat in the eggs one at a time; if it looks like the mix might curdle add some of the flour.

Combine the flour, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda in a bowl.

In a jug, combine the milk, vanilla and rum.

Beat about a third of the flour mix into the batter, followed by a third of the milk mix.

Repeat twice more until all the ingredients are combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared tin and bake for approximately 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Check the cake after 50 minutes as mine only needed 55 minutes cooking time.

Leave to cool, still in the tin, on a wire rack.

Now make the glaze: melt the butter over a low heat.

Stir in the sugar and water and slowly bring to the boil.

Cook for 5 minutes, stirring all the time.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rum.

Pour the glaze over the cake while it’s still in the tin – this forces the cake to absorb all the liquid. Pour gently and slowly as it’s possible that the cake might not absorb it all in one go and you might have to stop and give it time to recover!

Leave to cool completely (still in the tin) before de-tinning onto a plate and storing in an airtight tin.

Serve in generous slices – I don’t think it needs any accompaniment but whipped cream is an option!

Bask in the glory of the wonderful thing you have created.

Eat.

35 comments:

Anonymous said...

sounds delicious and looks amazing!

Caroline said...

Wow, what a stunning cake, definitely one for the rum lovers! A fitting celebration for your blog's birthday - Happy 4th Blog Birthday :-)

I have serious cake-tin-envy, that's a real beauty!

cocoa and coconut said...

I just love the shape of that cake! It is spectacular! Plus, it looks truly golden - as you've said in the title. I think I'd be tempted to put some sultanas in the batter with that rum. Yum!

Anonymous said...

Happy Fourth Birthday! I recently read about your blog in "Accountancy Magazine" (undoubtedly one of the most interesting articles I've ever seen therein!) Am so happy I've found your luscious blog, I adore cake and reading about cake!

Miz Ratti said...

4 years, tidy, Happy Birthday to you Mma CC

a true work of art and I can smell and taste the rum cake just by looking at it. Yum.

Victory Rolls & Mixing Bowls said...

oh wow this looks lovely! I too have to take extra bags for those kinds of purchases, whenever I go to Norway I have to stock up on all of the ingredients/decorations I can't get here...I even take less clothes so I can get more in! This cake looks boozily stunning!!

Katie said...

Happy bloganniversay! The rum cake looks gorgeous and I love your new bundt tin. I love the flavour of rum, but my family don't, so I guess I'll ahve to eat this one all by myself :)
Looks such a lovely fine soft textured sponge

Soo said...

4 years of amazing cakes!! Here's to another 4 years!

Thanks so much for the link to my fundraising - it's a good cause and of course one close to my heart.

Unknown said...

Happy 4th birthday! Love the cake and that cake tin...wow! So grand. x

Jo said...

Happy Birthday Caked Crusader! Your cake is a gorgeous colour, and what a fantastic shape! A proper celebration cake.

I love that you bought an extra bag on holiday to take home more cake. Brilliant!

LandGirl1980 said...

I am stuffed full of roast dinner at the moment - but I reckon I could squeeze in a bit of this! Rum AND cake?? *swoon*

Helen @ Fuss Free Flavours said...

It looks stunning!

I bought my first bundt tin and cake release spray at the weekend, so am eagerly looking for that perfect recipe.

I also read Soo's blog having found her via Ravelry.

Rachael said...

Wow, cake tin is amazing! Happy blog birthday :)

Maggie said...

Fourth year CC - happy bloganniversary. Is it really all that time that we have been exchanging comments?

Brownieville Girl said...

Congratulations of 4 wonderful years.

Cake looks delicious, and as for that cake tin .... swoon!!

Unknown said...

Happy Blogging Anniversary!

Sumaiyyah said...

The cake looks like a fort!

Cakelaw said...

Mmmm, gotta love a booze cake. Also living your crown shaped bundt tin. I can't believe I have been doing this for four years as well - crazy!

Step-parent's Cove said...

I think I'm going to try and make this cake this coming weekend. Thanks for the reciepe.

morri said...

I guess I'll jump on the bandwagon and congratulate you on doing an awesome job with the blog, too. As for the cake... Wow, this was probably the highest-voltage cake I'd ever see, so I immediately decided to make one for a family visit this weekend. My cake tin is a bit smaller (not to mention less awesome-looking) so I put the surplus batter into two muffin cups. I'm saving the cake for tomorrow, but the muffins have already been eaten and they were great: spongy, somewhat sticky and moist, with a definite rummy bite. I can't wait to see how the proper cake turned out!

Gloria Baker said...

Look really delicious! glroia

Nickki said...

Congratulations on your 4th Blog Birthday! What a gorgeous sounding cake to celebrate with.

Two Wednesdays said...

happy Blogiversary! I am also filled with envy - I have a couple("cough") of those Wilton Bundt tins and the outside of my cakes always turn out dark. How do you get it golden AND cooked through please? Having seen yours I know now it can be done and it is not just deceptive marketing photos!

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Two Wednesdays

The honest answer is "I don't know" as that's just how it came out! I wonder if it was down to the cake release spray forming a barrier and protecting the cake?

Unknown said...

Happy blogbirthday! That is a seriously impressive cake - but I want to know more about these frequent "work trips to the Bahamas". Where can I get a job like that?

Kim said...

I have never tried (or even heard of) rum cake and as a rum fiend I now feel like a bit of a fraud! This looks stunning and I must get my hands on some rummy cake asap. I also made the Toblerone cupcakes that you blogged about awhile ago this week - they went down a storm, esp the ganache! So thank you :)

Ling's Passion said...

Happy 4th Birthday....

Two Wednesdays said...

Hi Caked crusader - it may be just you are a baking genius? :-) (Or at least this is what I am telling myself) I have used cake release spray, melted butter, melted butter and flour and still it is dark. I fear I may have to play with the settings on my oven, and not use the fan setting if I can muster the courage......

Kim Bee said...

New follower. Fantastic recipe, wonderful blog. Glad I found you.

Baking Addict said...

Happy blogiversary! (i need spell check!) Really love your bundt tin and this is the perfect cake - it looks so beautiful and golden.

Claire said...

Belated Happy Blogbirthday. Your blog became an important resource, when I relocated back to the UK and had to leave all my cookbooks behind. Like putting butter on a cat's paws, your recipes soothed me while I settled into a new way of life. After all, so many cakes, so little time!

Nicky said...

Have just made this cake and can't wait to try it! I have a question, though - was I supposed to wait until the cake was cool before applying the glaze? Mine seems to have shrunk somewhat, although I guess it will still taste good.

The Caked Crusader said...

Hi Nicky

When the glaze is poured over the cake whilst the cake is in the tin, I always do it when the cake is hot - it will shrink a bit but I always think the hot cake absorbs liquid better

Happy baking

Nicky said...

Thank you!

I found the cake to be a curious mixture of tasty and kinda bland - I think the glaze was the tasty bit. Having mulled this over, I remember that I've disliked milk-heavy cake in the past. Am now wondering how swapping out some of the milk for pureed banana would work...

joanie said...

I have some Mount Gay Rum left from when I went to the Caribbean, I have always wanted to try a Caribbean cake, I made this one and added Sultanas, the cake is gorgeous, I am so pleased I found this recipe, thank you for posting it. Thank you for UK measurements.