Rum Cake, Almost Tortuga

Almost Tortuga Rum Cake

This is the “Next best to the original Tortuga Rum Cake” from the Caribbean.  Some say you can special order Tortuga rum from your local liquor store, for no extra cost.  If that doesn’t work, then try out the rums listed below.  Coconut rum is also excellent!  See the hyperlink at the bottom for where I found this on the internet when doing my research for “the best” rum cake to make for family and friends this Christmas season.  I gotta tell you, it was EXCELLENT cake, if you like rum cake!  We made 8 of them so far, and I think we’ll make 2 more tomorrow!

Total Time: 1 hrs 40 mins
Prep Time: 45 mins
Cook Time: 55 mins
Servings: 12

Ingredients:

Basic Cake Mix

2 cups cake flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, cut into bits
3 tablespoons vegetable oil

For the Cake

1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts (or pecans or macadamias)
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package vanilla instant pudding mix
1/2 cup milk
4 eggs (better if at room temperature)
1/2 cup Cruzan vanilla rum (Hawaiian-style rum)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

vanilla beans (optional. soak and scrape)

shredded coconut flakes (optional)

Rum soaking Glaze

1/2 cup butter (do not substitute)
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup Cruzan vanilla rum (Hawaiian-style rum), or similar rum

Directions:

Basic Cake Mix:

·         In a large mixing bowl, combine basic cake mix ingredients.

·         On low speed combine ingredients until the mix is the consistency of fine gravel, and all particles are about the same size.

·         This mix may be contained and stored for up to 3 months in the refrigerator.

For the Cake:

·         Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

·         Spray a large Bundt pan (12 cup) with nonstick BAKING cooking spray. (If you just use non-stick spray, it will likely stick in parts.  Or, you can oil and flour the pan.)

·         Sprinkle the chopped walnuts on the bottom.

·         Place Basic Cake Mix, pudding mix, milk, eggs, rum, oil, and vanilla extract in a large bowl and combine on medium speed with electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes, scrape down the bowl halfway through. Batter should be very smooth.

·         Pour into Bundt pan.

·         Bake for about 55 minutes- until fully golden and tester comes out clean and cake springs back.

·         Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack while making the soaking glaze.

Rum Soaking Glaze:

·         Combine butter, water and sugar in a small saucepan.

·         Bring to a boil carefully as mixture boils over very easily.

·         Reduce to a simmer and cook until sugar is dissolved and syrup is well combined and a little thicker.

·         Remove from the heat and add the rum, mix to combine. (some like to cook rum in)

·         While cake is still cooling, pour some of the hot syrup on top of the cake, allowing it time to soak in (this may take a few minutes as there will be a lot of syrup) continue to add syrup until all of the syrup is added.

·         Allow cake to cool completely in pan before turning out onto serving platter.

·         This cake is delicate, so once it is turned out, it cannot be moved around easily.

·         Can be eaten when fully cool, but even better the next day, or for many days or weeks afterwards!


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NOTE ON THE BUNDT PAN:
I have baked since I was a pre-teen, and used a lot of different types of pans and recipes since then.
For this recipe, and any other type of bundt pan, I highly recommend the Pampered Chef stoneware bundt pan.  You can find it under pamperedchef.com as this item #1440 Stoneware Fluted Pan
I use baking pam to spray on the bundt pan, and none of my cakes have stuck at all.  They cook evenly, and come out perfectly each time!  
 

http://www.food.com/recipe/almost-tortuga-rum-cake-108524

Kids really make the holidays fun!

The Christmas calendar helped, but this little guy just asked everyday about how many more days. He loves to sit and admire his decorations and the lights. We are so lucky!

In between, he's been playing more and more on his drawing pad, although the renditions of the family make us look a little heavy above the shoulders.

The day the kids were waiting for! Let's make cookies!

These guys all worked very hard, payed attention to how to roll out the dough, and how to get their sheets ready for the oven.



Proud bakers, with their final products!

"Mommy, can I eat this one?"




Anxious about what could possibly be in this present that was found under the tree, from his friend Julian. "Can I open it?" "Why not? I need to know what is inside of it."

Maya doing what she loves to do best, lay around and maintain protection over the family. Here she is actually chewing on a rawhide, not something we see very often!

Cookies, milk and carrots ready by the fireplace.

Amazingly enough, he fell asleep right away!

Ahhh, Raggedy Andy has come to live in our house. He will be a lot of fun when we start reading the Raggedy Andy stories. We are having a blast right now with Raggedy Ann, and her clean soft white cotton stuffing.


For a guy fascinated with how the body works and what is inside, he's sure to have a lot of fun with this anatomical puzzle. Thanks, Mar-Ran & Par-Ran! xoxo


Dad, resting after a long trip to get here on Christmas day, we are so glad they were able to make it and get to stay awhile! YAY!

Mom & Chris...they keep saying he's gotten so much taller, grown up so much.

Cousins Pearl and Xavia, enjoying a sit with Santa!
Soooo....tell the truth: have you been naughty or nice?!

And for the finale of the night: birthday wishes and candles. Didn't get the real birthday cake done until today, and it came out nice! Mom's recipe for spice cake with buttercream frosting on top. Sweet potato pie worked fine as a fill-in!

Happy #45, Babe!


Playing nice with his Indiana Jones mini legos.


Merry Christmas to all of you! Our Christmas was peaceful and relaxing, and spent with loved ones, who could ask for more. We hope that all of you are having a wonderful holiday season, and doing what you want!

Gingerbread Cookies!

Our online research really did find the best gingerbread cookie recipe! We did have the original recipe linked here, but it has since been removed, so this is a link to my own recipes.

Secrets: use a kitchen aid mixer, it makes mixing in molasses SO MUCH EASIER!!!

Use sheets of parchment (or wax) paper to roll out the dough, then put the sheets on a cookie sheet in the fridge for a few minutes to have the dough harden up a little. Then they can be either transferred to another sheet to make more bake at one time, or they can be baked directly on that sheet. Use sheets once and then toss. Seems wasteful, but again, SO MUCH EASIER! If you have never made gingerbread cookies before, then take our word for it!

Tips for the best fun: have friends help, especially the little guys! They will be guaranteed to make a mess, but you can clean that up later. When working with kids, keep an eye out for clean hands, accidental dropping of dough (so they don't try to put it back in the batch), and have fun! Don't worry, none of the dough from the cookies we baked were dropped on the floor.

Mixing the batches:



Putting batches in large baggies so they can setup in fridge:



Time to roll out the dough.
Decisions, decisions! Gotta pick just the right cookie cutters!

Proud workers:



Now, time to decorate!


long-time tradition of putting icing on the little fingers and knuckles...without a doubt, this was a HIT with some folks!
Sam kept coming back for MORE! The expression on his little face once he figured out what was going on was absolutely priceless!




Of all the helpers and tasters, this little guy was our best client!
I honestly believe he enjoyed them more than anyone else!
It's what he wanted for breakfast snack, good thing they don't have a lot of sugar (for a cookie, that is).



Some of the finished product:







What fun!

And that was just one part of the fun we had for the whole Thanksgiving weekend. More on that later, too much to write to do it now. ;)
...the whole "back to homework thing" is in order for now

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