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

Cake #30 - Dried Cherry and Almond Cake

Sometimes I get the idea that there's an ingredient I want to use (or an ingredient I have on hand) and so I trawl the internet for recipes.  In this case, dried cherries was sounding yummy, and I found a dried cherry coffee cake recipe at Allrecipes.com.  I'm sure I don't need to tell any seasoned baker who pulls recipes from the internet that you should be sure to check the comments.  Based on the comments and reviews I doubled the amount of cherries from 1/2 cup to a full cup; I used almonds atop the cake instead of pecans; and I used plain yogurt and vanilla extract instead of vanilla yogurt.  The recipe below accounts for those adjustments.

I brought the cake to work for a monthly birthday celebration, and compared to the pecan pie and the ginger-stout cake, my humble coffee cake was not the favorite.  However, I was pleased with it.  It was quick to bring together (I love cakes that use oil, rather than butter, for that reason - just stir them up and into the cake pan they go!) and baked quickly too.  It was a delicate cake with a good flavor.

I don't prefer nuts in baked goods (or ice cream, for that matter) - I don't like the way they get chewy, rather than crunchy.  This recipe perfectly accounts for that, with the nuts only on the top, so they stay crispy and make a nice topping for the cake.  The original recipe called for pecans, but after using the almond extract to plump the dried cherries, and knowing how delicious almond-cherry combinations are, I went with almonds.  It might be worth a try with pecans too.

Dried Cherry and Almond Cake

1 cup chopped dried cherries (they’re easier to chop if you butter the knife and the cutting board)

½ cup hot water

½ teaspoon almond extract

1½ cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

¼ teaspoon salt

1 cup white sugar

1 (8 ounce) container vanilla yogurt (or plain yogurt with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract – I used Greek yogurt)

½ cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 egg white

¼ cup slivered almonds (or chopped pecans)

1 tablespoon white sugar

1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch round cake pan.  Line with parchment paper, butter the parchment paper, and then coat with flour, tapping out the extra.

2.       Combine cherries, hot water, and almond extract: let stand 20 minutes. Drain cherries, and pat dry between layers of paper towels.  Set aside.

3.       In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, baking powder, and 1 cup white sugar. Add yogurt, eggs, and oil. Stir until just combined. Fold in cherries. Pour batter into prepared pan.

4.       Stir almonds and 1 tablespoon white sugar together. Sprinkle on top of batter in pan.

5.       Bake for 35 minutes, or until wooden pick comes out clean. Cool in pan on wire rack 10 minutes, before turning out onto a serving platter (you’ll have to invert it to get the almonds topping facing up). Serve warm, or at room temperature.

From allrecipes.com

Cake #29 - Citrus Cake

This is a pretty lame thing to admit, but I brought this cake to work, and then never got around to cutting myself a piece before it was all gone.  I stopped by my boss's admin assistant's desk to ask her how the cake was.  She said it was good, although not as lemony as the cupcakes she makes.  I used Meyer's lemons, which are sweeter and not as tart, which may have impacted the degree of lemon taste. 

I'll make it again and give a better report on how it tastes.  I can say that it's a smallish cake and is quick to whip up and to bake (I did it on a weekday evening.)

Citrus Cake

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, plus more for pan
1½ cups cake flour (not self-rising), plus more for pan
¾ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
Zest of 2 lemons
½ cup buttermilk (I used 1½ teaspoons lemon juice, plus 2% milk to make ½ cup)
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1½ teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1½ cups candied orange peel, cut into ¼-inch strips (optional – I didn’t use these)
 
1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Butter a 9-inch round cake pan; line with a parchment round, and butter parchment.  Dust with flour, tapping out excess. 
2.       Into a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
3.       With an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 3 minutes.  Gradually add granulated sugar, and beat until pale and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating until incorporated after each.  Add lemon zest.  Add flour mixture in 3 batches, alternating with 2 batches of buttermilk; beat until combined.
4.       Transfer batter to prepared pan.  Bake until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes.  Transfer pan to a wire rack to cool completely.  Turn out cake onto a serving platter.
5.       Whisk together confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice until smooth and opaque.  Spread glaze over top of cake with an offset spatula, allowing glaze to drip over side of cake.  Garnish with candied orange peel, if using, and serve.

Candied orange peel

Cover ¼–inch strips of citrus peel (pith removed) with cold water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and then drain.  Repeat twice.  Bring equal amounts water and sugar (enough to cover the strips) to a boil; cook until sugar dissolves.  Add strips; simmer gently on medium-low until peel is translucent, 1 hour.  Let cool (off heat) in syrup.  Wipe excess syrup from each strip, roll in sugar, and let dry on a wire rack.

From Martha Stewart’s Cakes