Category Archives: rum cake

Six on Saturday – Holiday Gale Gardening Fun

I am joining the SOS gang again this week featuring six items of interest from my garden. Most of this week our weather has been dominated by gale warnings. The skies are overcast, the wind has been gusting to 45 mph with downpours of rain sometimes blowing sideways. Floridians crave sunny blue skies and they were few and far between this week. My holiday gardening adventures have been indoors or on the porch this week. To see more SOS posts visit Jim at http://gardeningruminations.co.uk

The front door received a holiday makeover with a bromeliad cutting wreath. I was gratified to read that hoop wreaths are currently in style as I didn’t want to spend too much time in the wind hunting bromeliad cuttings (the hoop part is covered with winding gold and green ribbon) Red bromeliads are Fireball Neoregelia and the bigger green and red one is Super Fireball Neoregelia. Gold accents are fronds from Cabbage Palm trimmed to size.

Front porch pots were replanted. I am trying some more northern favorites mixed with tropicals for the winter. The grey plants are an old favorite ‘Bath’s Pink’ Dianthus. I have never seen one around here, but will be thrilled if it flowers. The bromeliads are mixed Neoregelias, garage sale finds, no one remembers the names but they always thrive, so I am happy to have them. The fern is an Autumn Fern (Dryopteris erythrosora), again way too far south, so I am hoping for some nice coloration with bronze new growth.

Porch propagation. Another batch of Turkeytangle Frogfruit (Phyla nodiflora) to replace my former St. Augustine lawn.

I found a tiny Noble Fir tree, slightly crooked, so the angel overseeing things is dancing on top. The scent from the tree alone is worth the effort to me.

Decorating Fiona didn’t go so well. She doesn’t want to be a reindog.

Oral sustenance is required to get through the holidays and the dreary, haunting calls of the gale. Rum cake baking became necessary.

I am wishing everyone a happy holiday season. I think the garden will be a better place next week!

Rum Cake – updated

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I know the holidays are here when Rum Cakes start appearing in my kitchen. Not by magic, by me. This was my mother’s favorite holiday treat and she demanded one every year. She began baking Rum Cakes when I was a teenager and then passed the reins over to me. Her biggest problem, being a woman of tasteful Southern breeding was being seen in the liquor store buying rum. Imagine a grey haired upstanding Republican woman who dropped her change at the cash register while muttering “I think that is the pastor of the Presbyterian church”. She would then nearly wreck the manual transmission car trying to skip gears in the parking lot to avoid being seen and was very happy when I was old enough to go buy the evil booze. Why it was OK for me to be seen buying rum remains a mystery lost to Southern ages. So, really this is a family tradition. This cake is being gifted to my brother and his family.

The recipe is based on a Bacardi rum recipe from the 70s. I started having trouble making Rum Cakes when all the boxes of cake mix were downsized from 18 ounces to 15.25. So, I have ended up buying two boxes of cake mix to get the amount right. Otherwise the cake ends up soggy.

The rum I prefer is Bacardi Gold. Having made this cake for almost 40 years I have tried all types with the exception of 151 which I believe might blow up the kitchen, so Bacardi Gold is the rum of choice for this cake:

Rum Cake:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

1 cup chopped pecans (this is a starting point, I fill the bottom of the pan)

1/ 15.25 oz Yellow or Butter Golden Cake Mix, plus 1/3 cup Cake Mix (buy two boxes) make more Rum Cakes with the leftovers

4 eggs

1/2 cup Canola oil

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup rum (Bacardi Gold)

Butter and flour a 10 inch tube pan, then break pecans into the bottom of the pan until it is covered. You can chop the nuts or use walnuts. I hate walnuts and just cover the bottom of the pan with big pieces of broken pecans.

Put all the other ingredients in the stand mixer and mix til there aren’t any lumps. Pour batter over the nuts and bake for 1 hour or until a tester comes out of the cake clean. Leave the cake in the pan for five minutes and then turn the cake out. Let cool til barely warm and make the glaze.

Glaze:

1 cup sugar

1/2 stick unsalted butter

1/4 cup cold water

Mix ingredients in small saucepan, then stir until everything is combined. Stirring over low medium heat the mixture will come to a boil, when the entire surface is bubbling set the timer for 5 minutes. Let it boil gently for five minutes, then take the mixture off the heat (this is important because it will catch on fire if you don’t) Add:

1/2 cup Rum

Stir until the alcoholic fumes wane. Meanwhile poke holes in top of cake with a skewer or pointy old knife. Spoon glaze over cake until the holes fill with glaze, then drizzle down the sides.