Rum Cake

If you've ever traveled anywhere in the Caribbean, Florida, or the Bahamas, you will confirm that Tortuga Rum Cakes are everywhere.  Our favorite flavor is Blue Mountain Coffee, and we even tracked another one of those down on our recent trip. 


It is a tradition where I work to bring in a treat from where you have traveled - one of those nice things to do that is in no way an obligation, but we have a bunch of foodies and we seem to enjoy this tradition.  Tortuga Rum Cakes, while delicious, are a little spendy if you want to feed thirty people, besides being bulky to travel with.  I decided to hunt for a recipe to try on my own.  Most recipes I could find were all copied from one source, and while I couldn't identify where it started, it included cake mix and pudding mix.  I'm not against those things, but I wanted to bake from scratch, so I kept hunting.

I stumbled across a recipe from Southern Living, November 2005, and bookmarked it to try.  It seemed like it would have a lot of flavor between the lemon zest, rum, banana liqueur, and soaking syrup, and I was not disappointed.  This is going in my recipe file to bring back again!

Rum Cake

• 1 1/2 cups butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons grated lemon rind
• 1/2 cup dark rum
• 1/4 cup banana liqueur
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup whipping cream
• Rum Syrup
• Powdered sugar 

Beat butter and granulated sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, egg yolk, and vanilla, beating until blended. Add lemon rind, beating until blended. Gradually add rum and banana liqueur, beating until blended. (Batter will look curdled.)

Stir together flour and next 3 ingredients; add to batter alternately with whipping cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture. Beat batter at low speed just until blended after each addition. Pour batter into a greased and floured 10-inch Bundt pan.

Bake at 350° for 55 to 60 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center of cake comes out clean.

Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes. Pierce cake multiple times using a metal or wooden skewer. Pour Rum Syrup evenly over cake. Let stand 45 minutes. Remove from pan; cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle evenly with powdered sugar before serving.