I chose this week’s Project Pastry Queen recipe, Totally Rummy Pound Cake. It was cake + booze. Surely it would be a winner.
But if I could do it all over again, I’d go back and choose a different recipe. Because it turns out that I’m not as big a fan of rum as you’d think. Or as I’d think… Captain & Diets excluded 🙂 And this cake has a lot – A LOT – of rum in it.
I made half a recipe (thank goodness) and baked it in a small loaf pan. It didn’t really rise much but while it baked, my kitchen smelled a whole lot like Spring Break 1998. I couldn’t bring myself to make the glaze for the cake, which called for even more rum, so I macerated some chopped strawberries with a little sugar and served it on top.
My husband graded it with a half-hearted “It’s okay I guess.” There aren’t many recipes in the book that I haven’t cared for but I guess they can’t all be winners. So now that I’ve totally sold you on the cake…
Totally Rummy Pound Cake
A dense, rummy pound cake studded with Texas pecans.
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
- 1 stick butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 cup dark rum
- For the glaze:
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsp water
- 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 Tbsp dark rum
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Spray a 9-inch loaf pan with baking spray.
- Spread pecans on a baking sheet and bake 5-7 minutes, until browned and fragrant.
- Cream butter and sugar on high for 2-3 minutes, until light and fluffy.
- Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the eggs one at a time.
- Add the vanilla and rum, mixing until completely combined.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.
- Reduce the speed of the mixer to low and add the dry ingredients to the bowl in three additions, alternating with two additions of the sour cream.
- Add half of the pecans to the batter and mix well.
- Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan and sprinkle with remaining pecans.
- Bake ~40 minutes, until browned and a skewer in the center of the cake comes out with moist crumbs attached.
- Let cool in pan 10 minutes and then turn out onto a rack to cool.
- To make the glaze, heat the butter, water, lemon juice, and rum in a small pan over medium heat.
- Bring mixture to boil and cook for ~1 minute.
- Pierce the cake many times with a skewer and brush/pour the glaze of the cake. Let rest 1 hour before serving, overnight preferred.
Notes
Yields: 8 servings
Estimated time: 1 hour 15 minutes