Caribbean Rum Cake

One of the tasty highlights when in the Caribbean is rum cake.  One taste can hook a person.

A designated driver would be a good idea if you eat too much of this one..

Enjoy!

Caribbean Rum Cake

½ cup toasted walnuts, crushed

1½ cups granulated white sugar

½ cup butter, room temperature

3 Tbsp canola oil

1¾ cup all-purpose flour or cake flour

¼ cup cornstarch

4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 box instant vanilla pudding (1 box 153 grams or 5 ½ oz)

½ cup canola oil

¾ cup milk

4 large eggs, from contented chickens

¾ cup dark rum, not Navy Rum, (Bacardi 8, Havana Club Anjeo, Pyrat if you are rich)

1 Tbsp vanilla extract

Glaze:
2 Tbsp butter
¼ cup water
¼ cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup dark rum, you can use more if you like

Preheat oven to 325° F or 305° F on convection bake

Cake

Grease a Bundt pan heavily with butter or shortening, then flour the greased pan - shake out excess flour. Make sure you get the cone in the middle covered as well! You can use walnut meal, or almond meal, or pecan meal instead of flour.

Spread crushed walnuts evenly onto the bottom of the pan. Set aside.

In a mixer, combine the 1½ cups granulated sugar with the ½ cup butter and 3 tablespoons oil on medium speed until mixture is well incorporated - about 3 minutes.

In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, pudding mix and salt. Once well blended add to the butter/sugar mixture. Mix at medium speed until the mixture resembles wet sand - about 1 minute. 

In a separate bowl (you can use the now empty flour bowl!), whisk together the eggs, milk, ¾ cup rum, vanilla extract, and remaining ½ cup vegetable oil.

Add the liquid mixture to the flour mixture and mix at medium speed until it is well combined and no lumps remain, about 2 - 3 minutes. The batter will thicken as it mixes.  So far so good.

Pour mixture into the prepared Bundt pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a dry knife blade inserted into the cake comes out clean and dry. Once ready remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 10 minutes. Do not remove it from the pan yet!

While the cake is cooling, make the glaze:

Place the butter, water and sugar In a heavy gauge saucepan, cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves, as it comes to a boil, turn down heat then simmer for 1 minute. 

Remove from heat then add the rum and vanilla. Stir well.  Careful - when making this it likes to try to boil over!!

Now the good part. 

Pour or brush (a new 1 ½” paintbrush works really well) the hot rum glaze over the cake a little at a time - continue until all the rum glaze has been absorbed by the cake. You may want to use a skewer to poke small holes throughout to allow for deeper penetration (imagine a guy with small hands and feet talking about deeper penetrations. The mind reels. Ahem. I digress)

Once the glaze has been absorbed, gently hit the side of the pan with the palm of your hand.  Thump it all around.  Once the cake feels loosened from the sides of the pan shake it gently side to side until it begins to make thumping or slapping sound, the sound indicates it has “released” from the pan.

Place a plate or cake server over the pan and then turn it over. The cake should fall to the plate.  There may be some walnuts left behind so gather them up and sprinkle over the top of the cake.

Let the cake sit overnight uncovered (8 hours at a minimum) before serving. It can sit for a few days even and it just keeps getting better and better as it does.

After a suitable time has passed (it will seem like forever!) serve it to friends and neighbours and do not drive after you eat some.

Top with whipped cream, or eat it naked – the cake that is, not you. However if eating it naked rocks your world go for it. Who am I to judge?

Click on the link below to read just how Caribbean Rum Cake can influence an evening.

Snowy Palms Resort