Baking Recipes,  David Lebovitz,  From the books,  My favourite things,  Simple cakes

A cake drenched in rum for the new year

There will be no Top 10 lists or year-end recaps on this blog for 2013. No sir. (You’re probably tired of seeing that everywhere else.) But it has to be said that even though I managed to write about 20 less recipes this year compared to last, I am more than happy about the variety of food-related posts I published this year. This was the year of newly opened doors, and for me a year filled with many discoveries about my own abilities and limitations when it comes to food blogging.

If I were to look back on the year that has been, I would say I can look upon it with much fondness. It was by no means a perfect year. There were plenty of moments I wish I could go back to and change, but it was one of my better years nonetheless. It was a year that hinted at plenty of positivity for the future, of many good things to come. And for that I am grateful.

I am grateful for all the pitfalls and humps I encountered as I walked down the road of 2013. I am grateful for the new and renewed relationships, even for all the bridges burnt among those people who do not deserve my love. I am thankful for every experience I found myself in this year. Thanks to them I literally feel myself changing somehow. I feel like my mind and soul are headed in the right direction.

And to commemorate the end of a good year, I decided to make my obligatory liquor-spiked new year’s cake a little more– How shall I call it– drunken? This year’s liquor of choice is rum, and on this cake it provided the perfect bang to end the year.

I’ve been looking forward to making this cake since I saw the number of bloggers who were quite pleased with how this turned out. Now you can add my name to that list. No David Lebovitz recipe has disappointed me yet but I just might have to add this particular one to my own repertoire of must-make cakes for special occasions. It is that good!

The batter starts out gorgeously, but it doesn’t have any rum yet when it goes into the oven in a pretty bundt pan. The rum comes after the cake is cooked through, then you poke the underside a gazillion times and drizzle in the rum-infused coconut milk syrup you cooked up while the cake was baking in the oven. The dense cake soaks up the rum syrup like a sponge and it magically turns into this AMAZING moist, fragrant cake.

But that’s not all! As your cake cools, you make yourself some rum-infused caramel glaze with bits of coconut mixed in. Flip the cake, pour the glaze all over to seal the deal, and you’ve got yourself one of the most delicious tropical-tasting moist cakes you’ve ever put in your mouth.

Not even kidding about this one.

Bahamian Rum Cake

This delicious marvel of a bundt cake is simply a beautiful coconut cake drenched in both coconut-rum syrup and caramel-rum glaze.

makes one 10-inch bundt cake
Servings 12

Ingredients

For the cake

  • 3 cups 420 grams all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 cup 8 oz/225 grams unsalted butter, at room temp
  • 2 cups 400 grams granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs, at room temp
  • 2 large egg yolks, at room temp
  • 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¾ cup 180 mL Thai coconut milk

For the coconut-rum syrup

  • ¾ cup Thai coconut milk
  • 6 Tablespoons 75 grams sugar
  • ½ cup 125 mL dark rum

For the glaze

  • 4 Tablespoons 2 oz/60 grams unsalted or salted butter, cut into pieces
  • 6 Tablespoon 90 mL heavy cream
  • 6 Tablespoon 90 grams brown sugar
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 Tablespoon dark rum
  • ½ cup sweetened coconut flakes, toasted *

Instructions

Make the cake

  • 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease and flour every inch of a 10-cup bundt pan to make sure cake does not stick to the pan once baked. Tap out excess flour.
  • 2. Into a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  • 3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  • 4. In a small bowl, beat together the eggs, egg yolks and vanilla. With mixer running, slowly dribble the egg mixture into the creamed butter, stopping the mixer and scraping the sides as needed, until the eggs are completely incorporated. The mixture may look curdled at this point, but that is normal.
  • 5. Using a spatula, gently stir in one third of the flour mixture, then about half of the coconut milk. Add half of the remaining flour mixture, followed by the remaining coconut milk. Finally, gently stir in remaining flour mixture just until combined.
  • 6. Scrape the batter into the prepared bundt pan and tap the pan on the counter a little to ensure the batter fills into the patter of the bundt pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the cake is just set in the middle.

While the cake is baking, make the syrup

  • 7. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the coconut milk, and the sugar, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove the syrup from heat and add the dark rum.
  • 8. When the cake comes out of the oven, leave it in the pan and poke it about 60 times using a wooden skewer. Spoon about 2/3 of the coconut-rum syrup over the cake, allowing it to soak through gradually. Let the cake cool completely.
  • 9. Once cool, invert the cake onto a cake plate. Brush or spoon the remaining syrup over the cake.

Make the glaze

  • 10. In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the butter, cream, brown sugar, and pinch of salt to a boil. Cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and stir in the 1 Tablespoon of rum. Let cool completely. Once glaze is cool, stir in the toasted coconut.
  • 11. Spoon the glaze over the top of the cake, encouraging it to run down the sides. (If the glaze seems too thick, rewarm it slightly.)

Notes

*I used desiccated coconut and mixed it into the glaze. I also reserved some for sprinkling on top of the cake.
Adapted from <i>Ready For Dessert</i> by David Lebovitz
This cake has one of the most gorgeous crumbs ever. As far as drunken cakes go, this one just screams ‘Cheers to a wonderful new year!’ I hope everyone is having a blast in welcoming the new year! I know you all are gearing up for a great year ahead!

Personally, I’m really looking forward to 2014. I’m trying to make sure it turns into something awesome. I’ve got a lot of plans lined up, a bunch of them involving efforts for self-improvement. I’m excited to get started. 🙂

2 Comments

    • Clarisse

      Hi Kellie, it’s not a brand rather it refers to any coconut milk brand made in Thailand. You can pick any brand you’d like though as long as it’s coconut milk. Or just pick your tried and tested brand. 🙂

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