Rum Cake

It's Holiday Treat Day at The Lawyer's office today.  He always gets requests from his co-workers to bring rum cake, one of his signature recipes.  He also gets requests from relatives and friends for rum cake at this time of the year, which tells you just how good it is.  We found this recipe many years ago, and I remember that it was posted by flight attendant who collected plates from everywhere she traveled to use in giving rum cakes as gifts at holiday time.  The reason I remember the story is that her final warning was to bake only one cake at a time in the oven or you risk an explosion due to the alcohol.  It sounded impressive but I was doubtful that it would ever actually happen until a certain Gourmet Club incident involving peaches and brandy that produced a pretty healthy ka-bang.  Luckily the oven survived (although it did blow the door open) and it makes for a great story.

Anyway, back to rum cake.  Think about this for your office party, book club get-together, Christmas Eve dinner, or holiday open house where you've been requested to bring something.  It will make you famous.

It's really easy but you do need a 12 cup tube pan, the simpler the better since the pecans would hide an intricate design anyway.  Did you know that Bundt cakes have become trendy again?  I attended a cooking demonstration at our state fair last summer that was all about Bundt cakes.  (Yes it was the state fair but the demo was given by professional bakers.) And be sure to use dark rum rather than light rum - that's what gives it the distinctive flavor.

Glazing the cake is the most interesting part of the process, since it takes place in stages to allow the cake to absorb the glaze gradually.  Don't dump all of the glaze on right away or most of it will just run off.  Put a light layer on and allow it to absorb, then apply more layers over time until all the glaze is used up.

click here for a printable recipe

Rum Cake

Makes 1 large cake

1 cup chopped toasted pecans

1 (18.5 oz) package yellow cake mix (Duncan Hines recommended)
1 (3.4 oz) package vanilla or French vanilla instant pudding
½ cup cold water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 cup dark rum, divided
4 eggs

Glaze:

½ cup butter
¼ cup water
1 cup sugar

Preheat oven to 325d.  Grease and flour a 12 cup tube pan.  Sprinkle pecans over the bottom of the pan and set aside.

To make the cake, in a large mixing bowl combine cake mix, instant pudding, eggs, the ½ cup cold water, oil, and ½ cup rum.  Beat at medium speed 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl after 1 ½ minutes.

Pour batter over pecans in pan.  Bake cake until toothpick inserted into cake comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.  Remove cake from the oven and let cool in the pan 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the glaze:  in a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter.  Stir in the ¼ cup water and sugar; bring to boil.  Boil 5 minutes, stirring constantly.  Remove saucepan from heat and stir in remaining ½ cup rum.

Invert the cake onto serving plate.  Poke all over with a wooden skewer or toothpick, being careful not to dislodge the pecans.  Spoon hot glaze over the pecans and use a pastry brush to apply the glaze evenly to the rest of the cake.  Allow cake to absorb the glaze for 5 minutes.  Repeat spooning and brushing glaze and letting cake absorb the glaze until all the glaze has been brushed onto the cake; this takes about 40 minutes.

Wipe the edges of the serving plate before serving.

Strawberry-Basil Lemonade

Ahhh, summer. Time for 4th of July picnics and family reunions.  This recipe for strawberry-basil lemonade is just a little different and will suit everyone from kids to adults (turn it into an adult beverage with the addition of a little vodka) plus the color is so pretty.

I made this recipe for The Lawyer's parents' 70th (!) anniversary party this past weekend.  (The guys at the party were busy checking out the bikinis by the pool that you can see in the background.)  It makes about 3 quarts of lemonade so you'll need a pitcher to accommodate.  I found this one at Crate and Barrel -  especially love the shape (reminds me of Kool-Aid commercials from way back) and the fact that it's plastic so it's lightweight and unbreakable.  It's hard to tell high-quality plastic ware from glass these days until you pick it up.
 
I received the original recipe from my friend Terry (part of our Gourmet Club along with her husband, Hiram).  I think she had it at a friend's house and wanted to pass it along.  Thanks Terry!

Terry and Hiram

When I made the recipe I had really fresh, very fragrant basil straight from the farmer's market that morning.  I mean fresh enough that you could smell it all over the kitchen.  That may be why I thought the basil flavor was a little strong and reduced it in the version below.  The original recipe called for 3/4 cup tightly packed basil leaves and I reduced it to 1/4 cup.  Just something to keep in mind if you try it.  You can even leave the basil out entirely if it doesn't appeal to you and just serve it as Strawberry Lemonade. 

I also found strawberries at the farmers market (yeah!!!! farmers markets).  The stand that I stopped at was selling 1.5 lb (more or less) containers, which was exactly what I needed.  The berries in the photo below weren't even the most perfect ones, which I saved for the garnish.  Beautiful and delicious.

You cook the strawberries in simple syrup (sugar and water) to extract their flavor and color.  Why does hot water make broccoli greener but make strawberries lose their color?  Who knows.  Anyway, the color and flavor of the strawberries goes into the syrup to make a pretty red syrup.  Then you add the basil which imparts flavor but not color (don't ask) and strain the whole thing.  The syrup is cooled and added to fresh lemon juice and cold water to taste, which is great - you can make the lemonade as tart or sweet as you want.  Just note that it takes an hour or two to chill the syrup and lemon juice so you want to start this process at least few hours before serving.

Have a great holiday week and enjoy summer!


* * click here for a printable recipe * *

Strawberry-Basil Lemonade
Makes about 12 cups


1.5 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
1.5 lbs strawberries, divided
¼ cup packed basil leaves
2 cups fresh lemon juice, chilled (8-9 juicy lemons)
8 cups cold water
Vodka (optional)
Additional basil leaves for garnish (optional)


Gently wash the strawberries. Hull the berries and slice ½” thick. Set aside ½ cup for garnish.

Place the sugar and 1 cup water in a medium saucepan over high heat and stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture comes to a boil. Add the 1 cup of strawberries, reduce heat to low, and simmer until the strawberries have softened, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat, add the basil leaves, and stir. Cool for about 45 minutes, then strain through a fine-mesh strainer set over a medium bowl; discard the solids. Cover the syrup and refrigerate until chilled.

When ready to serve the lemonade, combine 2 cups of chilled lemon juice with 8 cups of cold water and 1.5 cups of strawberry-basil syrup in a 3-quart pitcher and stir to combine. Taste and add additional syrup as needed.

To serve: add ice and reserved strawberries (and optional basil leaves or vodka) to serving glasses and pour lemonade over.

The Best Cranberry Relish

(A quick note - several people have told me they didn't know they could sign up to be notified when I publish a new post, so I moved the sign-up field to the top of the page on the left side.  If you have a corporate email address it probably won't work due to firewalls, but personal mailboxes will receive a notice.)

Far be it for me to mess with anyone's Thanksgiving traditions, but would you be open to one tiny change?  I consider this cranberry relish to be my signature Thanksgiving dish, if there is such a thing.  It's light years away from that jellied stuff that comes out of the can with indentations from the can ridges.  It has a bright, fresh, tart flavor that goes so well with turkey, it's amazing.  It's also wonderful with roast pork, chicken, duck, etc. and makes an excellent sandwich the day after Thanksgiving with leftover turkey.  I've even had it on toast with peanut butter and it was great.

The interesting part is that the cranberries aren't cooked.  How can that be?  Cranberries are little rocks, right?  I think marinating in the refrigerator with the tangerine and sugar softens them.  Whatever, it works.  The other interesting part is that you use the entire tangerine, peel and all (except the seeds).  The net effect is outstanding. If you can't find a tangerine, an orange works just as well. An advantage is that it needs to be made in advance so it's one less thing to do on The Day and it only takes about five minutes to prepare.  Please give it a try this Thanksgiving!


* * click here for a printable recipe version * *

Cranberry Tangerine Relish

Makes about 3 cups

 Note:  you will find crystallized ginger in the produce section of most grocery stores.

1 12-oz bag fresh cranberries, rinsed

1 6-oz tangerine, rinsed, unpeeled, halved, seeded and cut into 1-inch pieces

¾ cup sugar
½ cup coarsely chopped crystallized ginger (about 2 ½ ounces)
¼ cup orange marmalade

In a food processor, coarsely chop cranberries using pulse button.  Transfer to a medium bowl.  Do the same coarse chop to the tangerine and combine add to the cranberries.  Mix in the other ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate overnight.  (May be made up to three days in advance.)  Serve cold or at room temperature.