Cake #31 - Rum Cake

My mom asked me to bring a cake to have with dinner at her house the day after Christmas, and she had given me a beautiful bundt pan as a Christmas present, so I wanted something that would show off the new pan well.  My Martha Stewart Cake's book had a recipe for Rum Cake - the most distinctive thing about the recipe, it seemed, was that it called for five eggs (a large number) for a pretty standard amount of flour (2 cups) and butter (1 cup).

 

 

The Martha Stewart recipe didn't call for all that much rum, although there's also rum in the glaze.  The final cake was delicious, but as will often happen, it didn't measure up to the rum cake of my memory.  I didn't realize that I had such a specific taste in mind, until I tried this cake - but in Tucson there's a sandwich place called Baggin's.  They have a "Homemade Rum Cake" on their menu, which I quite like, and I think I'm going to have to purchase some pieces and see if I can replicate it.  As I remember it's a syrupy, almost soggy, cake...I'm eager now to try it again!

 

 

 

This recipe also, in its original form, calls for mini-bundt cakes.  I'm not such a huge fan of individual cakes (even though they're super cute) because they are often more cake than people want for dessert.  And I hate to see dessert plates with chunks of cake left on them.  I much prefer to serve modest slices of cake and have people ask for seconds!! Since the recipe below is modified for one larger cake, check the cake for doneness at 50 minutes, although it may take an additional ten minutes from that point before it's done.



 

 



 

 

Rum Cake

For the cake:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature, plus more for pan

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon coarse salt

½ cup buttermilk (I used 1½ teaspoons lemon juice, plus 2% milk to make ½ cup)

2 tablespoons dark rum

1 cup packed light brown sugar

½ cup granulated sugar

5 large eggs

For the glaze:

2 cups confectioners’ sugar

1 tablespoon rum, plus up to 1½ teaspoons more, if needed

1 tablespoon plus 1½ teaspoons milk

 

1.       Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Generously butter a 10-cup bundt pan; dust with flour, tapping out excess.  Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl.  Combine buttermilk and rum in a glass measuring cup.

2.       With an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.  Reduce speed to medium.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition.  Reduce speed to low.  Add flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk mixture and beginning and ending with the flour; beat until just combined.

3.       Pour the batter into the pan and tap on the counter to settle the batter into the pan.  Bake until the top springs back with lightly touched, edges begin to pull away from the pan, and a cake tester comes out clean about 60 minutes (check at 50 minutes).  Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and then turn out the cake onto a rack to cool completely.

4.       For the glaze, whisk together confectioners’ sugar, 1 tablespoon rum, and milk until smooth, adding more rum if needed to reach desired consistency.  Set cake on a wire rack over a rimmed baking sheet (or large piece of tin foil).  Drizzle glaze over cake.

From Martha Stewart’s Cakes