By Dominic Dutt, Contributor
Treat yourself to a rum cake next time you feel the urge to bake a cake. The recipe, which can be found on the blog alwaysorderdessert.com, is simple and takes no longer than 50 minutes. It’s warm, sensational, and has a strong aroma of rum, which makes it a perfect fall desert.
[hr]
My sister-in-law just returned from the Caribbean and she brought back, for me, rum cake. Sitting there on that table, waiting for me, I looked at the package and the cake inside was crying, “Eat me.”
I couldn’t wait. I had to devour that cake. I opened up the package and tore the dessert out of the plastic. The smell was intoxicating. The whole cake actually smelled like rum. As I took my first bite, I was immediately transported to La-La Land. My head was spinning. I felt all warm and tingly. I was actually hearing angels in my head singing “Hallelujah.” So I gave praise, and I devoured it.
The following week, I decided to bake my own rum cake. However, I did not take my time to follow the instructions. I felt too poor to buy real rum. Instead, I bought cheap rum extract. I didn’t use the proper ingredients and the result was not really rum cake—I’d call it a science experiment gone horribly wrong.
I was just too lazy. So bake your own rum cake, and take your time and follow the directions. Don’t cheat or skip any of the ingredients or instructions, and you might bake something pretty decent.
Finally and most importantly, use real rum. Happy baking!
[hr]
Ingredients
1/2 cup walnuts, crushed
1 1/2 cups granulated white sugar
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
3 tbsp + 1/2 cup grape seed or canola oil, separated
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp kosher salt
1 cup vanilla instant pudding mix
3/4 cup whole milk (or substitute water for milk)
4 large eggs
3/4 cup dark rum (recommended: Tortuga Rum)
1 tbsp pure vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F. Grease and flour your pan, and drop crushed walnuts into the bottom of the pan. Set aside.
In the base of a mixer, cream the granulated sugar and the butter together. Add 3 tbsp of the oil, the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, and kosher salt, and mix until even and mixture resembles fine crumbs.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, rum, vanilla extract, and remaining 1/2 cup of oil. Add to the dry ingredients and mix well until combined. The batter will be smooth, thin, and pour easily.
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.
