Tuesday, June 29, 2010

I Did It!! I Made a TWD Cake...ON TUESDAY. Rum-Drenched Vanilla Cake

Well, I made it on Monday in time to actually post on Tuesday. (Disclaimer: I am no longer an official TWD-er as I far too frequently did NOT make/post Tuesdays...so I am officially the renegade TWD-er...but they inspire me...) Partly because I've had my eye on these for a long, long time...

On to the meat of the matter...no, the cake of the matter.
Yesterday I called these rum-soaked, but Dorie calls them so much better: Rum-drenched Vanilla Cakes. I had almost all I needed for these basic-but-delicious cakes...including two vanilla beans that I had to help rehydrate by soaking them....okay, in rum, I admit it..and it worked.

I scraped out the two beans AND I added some vanilla (worried a bit that the beans may have been to old to pack needed punch)...I was a bit shocked, shocked! I tell you by the amount of melted butter added to these..

But...oh. my. These? These are the kinds of cakes I love...dense, full of flavors--both rum and vanilla, both favorites of mine and very straightforward. I really don't like fluffy, whipped cream covered, frosting layered, nut-filled...much of anything. Favorite sweets always tend to be shortbread. Pound cakes...creme brulee...pure, simple flavors...

I had to break out my mini-bundt cake pan, since it doesn't get a lot of use and it is SO CUTE. But I'd also better learn to fill it...fill it less, that is...look at all that wasted cake that overflowed...



Next time I'll know better...this made six overflowing mini-bundts (oh, those crumbs won't go to waste, don't you worry) AND a mini loaf...Simple to soak with rum syrup afterwards and the rewards are fabulous...I HAVE to give these away or I really will eat them all...

Head over to Tuesdays with Dorie to find other results. The chooser of the week and recipe printer is Wendy from Pink Stripes.

Do not ever buy store-made pound cake again. There is no reason to...this goes together in minutes (if you don't have vanilla bean, use the tablespoon and a half of vanilla extract...) and the results will make you want more and more and more...mmm. You know what this would go great with? A scoop of good vanilla ice cream...

I'm hungry...

6 comments:

Paula said...

Your cakes look just like mine--as in over the top. Had to cut off the bottoms (no wait, the tops)to make them look good. But just like yours, they all tasted good.

Celia @ Fig Jam and Lime Cordial said...

These do look very luscious! Will check out the recipe, thanks for the headsup Barb!

Jen said...

Oh I love rum cakes! The overflowed bit of cake looks nice and crunchy too. Does it have that muffin-top texture? That's my favorite part.

Babette said...

Ooh, yes Jen, they are really nice and moist/crunchy...I get to eat any trimmings..because as we all know, no calories in those parts..Right? Right?

Valerie Gamine said...

My mini cakes overflowed too. Mores the pity, I had to eat all the run-off in order to make them stand correctly. :D

Your cakes are adorable!

Lynne Daley said...

Great looking cakes even if they did overflow-more goodies for the cook! I made the cake a second time for a dinner party and this time added the rum syrup, actually used part coconut rum and 151 Bacardi as I didn't have any dark rum.