Rum-tastic Rum Cake

To celebrate our friend David's new job promotion (and also a personal request from my DB), I decided to make rum cake this morning. This tried-and-true recipe makes the moistest cake you'll ever eat. It's the one cake I know that gets better as it ages- although most of the time, it doesn't last very long. This is my DB's favorite cake, and he requests this on all special occasions. And my favorite part? It uses hardly any bowls, ingredients, and it's incredibly quick to make! I normally make this in a bundt pan, but today I wanted to use my mini-bundt pan. (Tips for using this mini-bundt pan are at the bottom of this recipe.) The detailing on top of this mini-bundt pan is so pretty and detailed, I omitted the nuts (but normally I would use it if I were using a regular bundt pan). I like this cake best at room temperature, but my DB loves it chilled and served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This cake is rum-tastic!

Rum Cake
Cooking spray with flour
1 cup chopped pecans (walnuts are fine too)
18.25-oz package yellow cake mix
3.4-oz package instant vanilla pudding
4 eggs
1/2 cup milk (Skim milk is fine here)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup rum (dark or light is fine, but I use this)
1/2 tsp vanilla

Butter-Rum Glaze
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup rum
*If you're making cupcakes or mini-bundt cakes, you can reduce the butter-rum glaze recipe in half

Directions:
To make the Rum Cake
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. (Reduce to 300 degrees if using a dark pan.)
2. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
3. Sprinkle chopped nuts evenly over the bottom of the pan.
4. In a large bowl of a mixer, sift the cake mix and vanilla pudding mix. (I usually either just whisk the dry mixes or blend it in the mixer to remove lumps.)

5. Mix in the remaining cake ingredients (eggs through vanilla) on medium speed for 2 minutes using a stand mixer (4 minutes if using a hand mixer). Pour batter over chopped nuts in pan. Gently tap the filled cake pan on the counter a few times- this will make the air bubble pockets rise up and away from the outside of the cake.

6. Bake in a preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

7. Poke holes on the bottom (presently the top) of the cake. Let sit for 10 minutes in the pan.

To make the Butter-Rum Glaze
* Start making the glaze in the final 10 minutes of baking time.

1. In a saucepan, combine butter, water, and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium heat and continue to boil for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Cook until sugar is dissolved, syrup is well-combined, and a little thicker.

2. Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 cup rum.

3. Pour 1/2 the glaze on bottom (presently the top) of cake, over the holes. Let sit for 10 minutes for the glaze to seep in.

4. Invert the cake by using a large plate or cake stand upside down on top of the bundt pan.

5. Gently poke holes on top and the sides of the cake.
6. Begin drizzling the remaining rum glaze over the top of the cake, allowing it to drip down the sides of the cake. Try to keep the glaze on the cake as much as possible, but it will pool at the bottom of the cake stand/plate.

7. Allow the cake to cool to room temperature, so the glaze has enough time to seep into the cake, making it moist and delicious.


Tips for using Mini-Bundt pan
This was my first time making rum cake in this new pan. I had to make this cake twice because the first time, I filled it to the top and it completely overflowed (over the sides and into my oven). Here are some tips I've learned:
- Generously grease the pan with cooking spray with flour.
- After spraying, take a pastry brush and brush the oil into the grooves of the pan.
- Since it's best to slowly pour the cake batter to avoid air bubbles, I poured the batter into a measuring cup so I could accurately and slowly fill each well.
- When adding cake batter to the pan, only fill each well halfway full to avoid overflow.
- Baking time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 11-12 mini-bundt cakes (I usually do 6 mini-bundt cakes and 10 cupcakes baked for 20-25 minutes)