Rum and Celebration

At almost every occasion for celebration in my family, you will find a Rum Cake. It happened almost accidentally that the presence of this cake is always seemingly preordained; I was only trying the recipe at first.

On a  lazy Sunday afternoon, almost ten years ago – it was my weekly, sometimes daily “let’s try a new recipe” – kind of gig – lately, I’ve been trying my hand at sour dough breads).

It turned out to be a wonderful creation, better than expected actually, and then somehow, everyone (including myself) loved the taste and the texture so much, that I tried it again – and then again, and then again.

Soon, as was inevitable given my gravitation towards this particular cake, it became my all time favourite “go to” cake – my offering of love and happiness and hope, and the embodiment of joy to the celebration of the gathering, regardless of the occasion – and somehow it stuck.

These days, the basic recipe I use remains the same, but sometimes I use brandy or whiskey, or a flavoured vodka instead of rum and I often decide to use toasted crushed almonds, peanuts or pecans instead of walnuts. Sometimes I use a ¾ cup of brown sugar and ¾ cup of granulated sugar in the recipe instead of only granulated sugar and I often add some lemon zest , when I use the flavoured lemon vodka or some Limoncello instead of the rum. I'll add instant coffee powder or a shot of espresso when I use coffee liquor instead of rum.

This recipe is truly a wonder, as long as you've mastered the method to make this cake, the possibilities of flavours you can create are endless, this humble Rum Cake can morph into almost any cake you want it to be become. A Coconut Rum Cake is made with the use of coconut rum instead of dark rum and the addition of some toasted sweetened coconut flakes. If you want to make a Chocolate Rum Cake, add ¼ cup of sieved unsweetened cocoa powder to the sieved flour in the recipe and add a ¼ cup extra of granulated sugar to the amount you cream with the butter in the recipe.

Alison's Rum Cake

4– Eggs (separated)

1 ½ Cups – Granulated Sugar

½ lb – Unsalted Butter

2 tspns – Vanilla Extract

1 ½ Cups – Cake & Pastry Flour

½ of a 1/3 Cup – Dark Rum (Myers

1/ 4 Cup – Chopped Walnuts (optional)

Method of Preparation: Beat butter together with ¾ cup sugar till light and creamy, add egg yolks one at a time and continue beating until well combined. Add vanilla extract, mix to combine, and then gently fold in the sieved flour with rum alternately in thirds until all flour and rum has been mixed into butter mixture and thoroughly combined ( do not over mix). Whisk the egg whites to a meringue with the rest of the sugar,(ensure it has stiff peeks before you stop whisking). Fold the meringue into the flour mixture. Pour the cake batter into a well greased bunt or tube ban that has been dusted with the crushed walnuts on the bottom, (and sides,if possible) .

Bake for 45 – 50 minutes @ 350 degrees F or until lightly brown in colour, well risen and a thin skewer inserted in the centre of the cake comes out clean.

Copyright - Alison West 2010