Food You Can Eat: Vice (Rum) Cake

Every few weeks, I will throw caution to the winds and bake without paying any mind to “heart healthy”. This time I added booze to the other sugary vices. Because I was so very impressed by the frosting prowess of @Butcherbakertoiletrymaker, I ordered an introductory set of Wilton piping tips and bags. This was my first attempt; hopefully practice will make perfect. You will need a tube pan or (ahem) Bundt pan for this recipe.

Cake Ingredients

• 4 large eggs
• 2 ½ cups confectioner’s sugar
• ¾ cup orange juice
• ¼ cup butter
• ¾ cup dark rum
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon dark rum
• ¾ cup melted butter

Frosting Ingredients

• 4 cups confectioner’s sugar
• 1 cup softened butter
• 2-3 teaspoons vanilla
• 1 tablespoon dark rum
• 1-2 tablespoons milk

Sugared Pecan Ingredients

• ¼ -½ cup unbroken pecans
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 2-3 tablespoons butter

Cake Preparation

This recipe is a little bit fussy, but not awful…Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease and flour your pan. Separate your eggs, letting the whites stand for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, make the sauce for adding to the warm cake via punctures and for serving on the side. I found the sauce to be quite strong of rum – great for adding to the cake itself, bad as a serving sauce. In a saucepan, combine the confectioner’s sugar, orange juice, ¼ cup butter, cubed, and stir over medium heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and stir in the ¾ cup of rum, set aside. The Great British Baking Show has had contestants go overboard with the booze, and this was the case here. But to keep occupied while the cake bakes, here is a GBBS drinking game.

Beat your rested egg whites with half the brown sugar, ¼ cup, adding gradually until stiff peaks form.

Sift the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg together, set aside.

In another bowl, beat the eggs yolks to thicken and add the other ¼ cup of brown sugar, vanilla, and 1 teaspoon of rum, beating on high.

Fold egg white mixture and the flour mixture into the egg yolk mixture, alternating them. Fold in the ¾ cup melted butter. Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until the cake springs back when touched.

Remove the cake from the oven and poke holes all over the top with a fork, skewer, whatever. Pour the sauce over the cake; it will absorb, add more once it does so. Cool the cake on a wire rack. When completely cool, invert the cake onto your serving plate and decorate.

Frosting and Sugared Pecan Preparation

Frosting: Mix all ingredients on medium-high speed until frosting is stiff enough to pipe. I cut all the ingredients in half for this cake, because I was only piping a ring. After going around once, I still had lot of frosting left so I went around a second time (too much frosting isn’t a thing, ever).

Pecans: Microwave the sugared pecan ingredients for 30-45 seconds, stirring to coat with sugar butter. Set the pecans on a paper towel to soak up excess coating. Place the pecans on top of the frosting, for pretty. I used the lesser amount and still had leftover pecans.