Lundi: Recipes

I love rum. Admittedly, I don't drink it all that often; I'm basically a wino. But it's great to cook with and lends itself particularly well to sweets.

Today's recipe is from the Times~Picayune and the entry in their book Cooking Up A Storm begins:

New Orleanians have a long history with rum, which was the base of many early drinks, so it's not surprising that this cake is a favorite of our readers. We received many requests for it and had several recipes in our archives. Here is one that Y.G. of Kenner sent in 1997.

And so, Y.G.'s recipe for Classic Bacardi Rum Cake:

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 (18.25 ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 (3.25 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding
4 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup cold water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup dark rum (80 proof), such as Bacardi

Glaze:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark rum as above

Cake ~ Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan or a 12 cup Bundt pan.  Sprinkle the chopped nuts over the bottom of the pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mix all the remaining ingredients together, then pour the batter into the pan. Bake 1 hour or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The cake should pull away from the sides of the pan a bit when it's done.

Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes and the turn it out onto a rack to finish cooling.

Glaze ~ While the cake is cooling, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and sugar. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly so the mixture doesn't scald or stick. Remove from heat (turn off your gas burner!) and add the rum. Stir to combine.

When the cake is thoroughly cool, prick the tip with a fork or toothpick. Drizzle the glaze over the top and let it sit a half an hour or so to allow the glaze to seep into the cake.

This cake will produce eight to ten servings. Bon appetite (and cheers!)

Header: Cakes and Wine by Thomas Waterman Wood via American Gallery