Aunt Joyce's Rum Cake
Lots of my friends say this is their favorite cake. I like it because it's always moist, not dry, and it has nuts. Nuts to the nutty.
Lots of my friends say this is their favorite cake. I like it because it's always moist, not dry, and it has nuts. Nuts to the nutty.
- Carbohydrate 12.4504460006555 g
- Cholesterol 121.106400059645 mg
- Fat 28.3169595014031 g
- Fiber 1.0464000415802 g
- Protein 5.81128900253416 g
- Saturated Fat 13.1050424504374 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (186g)
- Sodium 7215.55901722106 mg
- Sugar 11.4040459590753 g
- Trans Fat 1.95475610023536 g
- Calories 319 calories
Step-by-step
- Heat oven to 350 degrees.
- Put chopped nuts in bottom of very well-greased Bundt pan.
- Mix cake mix, pudding, water, oil and rum, adding eggs one at a time.
- Beat for three-four minutes.
- Pour batter over nuts and bake for 1 hour.
- Boil butter, sugar, water, and rum together.
- Pour over cake in pan (make lots of holes with toothpick).
- Let cool in pan before removing (run knife around all the edges).
Dark rum dominates this bake, acting as both a flavoring agent and a tenderizing liquid that interacts with the starches in the flour. Alcohol weakens gluten development, meaning the inclusion of liquor helps guarantee a soft crumb rather than a tough one. Selecting a standard dark or golden rum yields the right balance of molasses notes and alcoholic bite without overpowering the vanilla pudding base. Quality matters because the spirit is not entirely cooked off during baking; a portion remains concentrated in the final slice.
Cakes baked in heavy metal bundt pans rely on thermal mass for crust formation and even heat distribution. Historically, heavy cast aluminum pans became standard for these types of desserts because they conduct heat uniformly, preventing scorching on the exterior while the thick center rises. Greasing every crevice of the pan prevents the chopped pecans or walnuts from sticking, ensuring the nutty topping releases cleanly when inverted onto a serving plate.
Many bakers ruin rum cakes by inverting them while hot or failing to puncture deep channels for the glaze. Piercing the warm cake deeply with a wooden skewer creates pathways for the boiling butter and sugar syrup to penetrate the crumb rather than pooling entirely on the surface. Allowing the baked dessert to rest in the pan for at least fifteen minutes helps the interior structure set before the liquid application occurs.
Rum cakes belong to a broad family of southern soaked cakes that gained immense popularity in the mid-twentieth century with the commercial proliferation of boxed gelatin and pudding mixes. These convenience items stabilized heavy batters, allowing home cooks to incorporate high ratios of liquid fat and alcohol without causing the emulsion to break. Storing the finished cake under a glass dome at room temperature for twenty-four hours allows the alcohol and sugar to fully permeate the crumb, improving both sliceability and depth of flavor.
