This recipe, believe it or not, came from my very own mother! The cake itself is a cinch to put together and even uses boxed cake mix. The nuts in the recipe are optional; I use about half the suggested amount, which I would recommend because if you have too many nuts, it makes it difficult for the glaze to absorb once baked. The glaze, on the other hand, can be a bit tricky. You must stand over the stovetop, stir constantly, and watch it come together. If the heat is too high, the glaze will bubble up and you have to remove it from the heat until it has calmed down. The cake never absorbs all of the glaze, and I always have a bit left over. My best advice for glazing the cake is to take a fork and prick lots of holes all over the cake, spread a coating of glaze, let that absorb, and come back to do another coat. If you just pour the entire glaze on top of the cake it will not absorb and makes a huge mess – I have learned this through trial and error! The cake is super moist and gets better with time.
Rum Cake
Ingredients:
- pecans - 1 cup, chopped
- yellow cake mix - 1 box
- vanilla instant pudding - 1 (3 3/4 ounce) package
- eggs - 4 large
- water - 1/2 cup, cold
- vegetable oil - 1/2 cup
- dark rum - 1/2 cup (Myer's Dark Rum is the best)
- Glaze
- unsalted butter - 8 ounces
- water - 1/4 cup
- granulated sugar - 1 cup
- dark rum - 1/2 cup
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
Spray and flour a Bundt pan.
If using nuts, sprinkle around the bottom of the pan.
In a large bowl, stir together the cake mix, pudding, eggs, water, oil, and rum until smooth.
Pour the batter over the nuts in the Bundt pan and bake for one hour, or until a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean.
Cool the cake completely before inverting cake onto a serving plate.
To make the glaze, melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in the water and sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly, and boil for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the rum.
With a fork, poke several holes in the cake. Using a pastry brush, spread the glaze on the top and sides of the cake; allow the glaze to absorb and spread another coating of glaze. Continue the process until most of the glaze has been absorbed.
Note: You may want to use a separate plate for the glazing process because you are going to have run off around the bottom. Once the glaze sets, I transfer the cake to my cake stand.