A NO-FAIL RUM CAKE, STEP BY STEP
Elizabeth Vargas tested dozens and dozens of rum cake recipes to recreate the one her mother used to make.
The recipe for her popular Azucar & Ron rum cakes is secret. But she shares this one for rum- cake beginners, which she adapted from a recipe she found on the King Arthur Flour website. It is moist, fragrant and gloriously rum- flavoured.
Don’t be put off by the pudding mix in the ingredient list, she says. It keeps the cake moist. And look for a good- quality dark, aged rum like Barbancourt, for deeper flavour.
The beauty of rum cakes is that they are best after a day or so. And they keep well for several days. They also freeze well ( for up to 6 months) when wrapped in plastic wrap and then placed in a large freezer container.
RUM CAKE
Makes one 10- inch cake
For cake:
■ 2 cups flour
■ ½ cup instant vanilla pudding
■ mix 2 teaspoons baking powder
■ 1 teaspoon salt
■ 1- 1/ 2 cups sugar
■ ½ cup unsalted butter, at room
■ temperature ½ cup canola
■ ½ cup milk
■ 4 large eggs, at room
■ temperature ½ cup dark rum
■ 2 teaspoons vanilla
For rum syrup:
■ ½ cup unsalted butter
■ ¼ cup water
■ 1 cup sugar
■ ½ cup rum
■ ½ teaspoon vanilla
1. Preheat oven to 325 F. Oil a 10to 12- cup non- stick Bundt pan. Dust it with flour, and turn to coat the pan evenly. Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, pudding mix, baking powder and salt.
3. In the bowl of a standing mixer, cream together sugar and butter until creamy and fluffy. Add 3 tablespoons oil.
4. Start mixer at low speed and add dry ingredients slowly. Increase mixer speed to medium and mix until the mixture has fine, crumb- like consistency.
5. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla, remaining oil and milk. Just before adding to dry ingredients, add rum.
6. At medium speed, add wet ingredients to dry ingredients in mixer bowl. Gradually increase speed to high and continue mixing for 10 seconds, until the batter is smooth. Scrape the edges of bowl with a spatula to make sure there are no dry traces left.
7. Pour batter into the prepared Bundt pan and spread level with a spatula. Bake for 50 to 55 minutes.
8. While the cake is baking, make the syrup: In a mediumsized saucepan, combine all syrup ingredients, except vanilla. Bring to a rapid boil, then reduce heat to medium- low and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, until the syrup has thickened slightly. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
9. For a less alcoholic cake, boil all the syrup ingredients together, including the rum. Then let cool at room temperature. For a stronger rum flavour, make the syrup without the rum and let it cool at room temperature. Then add rum just before you are ready to pour it over the cake.
10. Remove the cake from the oven. When done, it will test clean on a cake tester or a long wooden skewer. ( Don’t use a toothpick, though; it doesn’t get down deep enough into the cake.)
11. Leave the cake in the pan to cool slightly. Once cooled, shake it gently to make sure the cake is not stuck. Flip the cake out on a rack to cool further. Wash the cake pan and make sure to dry it well. Place the pan over the cake and turn it gently back into the pan.
12. With a long wooden skewer poke several holes into the cake.
13. Pour the syrup over the cake, still in its pan, and allow it to soak in.
14. Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and allow the cake to sit out overnight to cool completely and absorb the syrup.
15. When ready to serve, loosen the edges of the cake and invert it onto a serving plate.
16. Serve with hot coffee or tea.