My not-so-secret Rum Cake recipe

It's perfect...well, at least according to me & my dad. He's put in an order for rum cake for his 70th birthday. Honoured? Hell yeah, baby! Who knows, I may even open up a rum-cake kiosk. Okay, that's pushing it. So, a promise is a promise. I agreed to post my rum cake recipe when I felt it was good enough to post & here I am. Before I begin, I'd like to preface it by informing you that it's time-consuming & ever-so-slightly nerve wracking. But please don't let that discourage you, for once you sink your teeth into this delicacy, you'll realize the reward was well worth it.

Steph's Rum Cake Extraordinnaire

Part 1 - Sponge Cake (taken from my mom's recipe)
12 large eggs
2 cup granulated sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I use canola!)
rind of 1 lemon
8 teaspoons baking powder (I know it seems excessive)
2 cup sifted flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees celcius. Beat together eggs, sugar, oil, lemon rind & 4 teaspoons of baking powder & mix well. By hand, stir in the flour & remaining baking powder. Pour into greased & floured pans (8 or 9") & bake for 45 mins to 1 hour (until a cake tester comes out clean). Allow to cool completely before removing from pans.

Part 2 - The Rum Syrup
1/2 cup rum
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Note: If you like things to be a bit more rummy, be more generous with the alcohol.

Mix together all ingredients in small pot & bring to a boil. Stir continuously until all the sugar is disolved. Set aside to cool completely.

Part 3 - "La Crema" aka the pastry cream
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon butter
2 oz. baking chocolate (grated)

Note: I make two batches - one with the chocolate & one without because a traditional rum cake has a layer of each. You'll be left with some pastry cream, but scooping it up & indulging is part of the fun!!!

Place sugar, egg yolks, flour & vanilla in saucepan & mix well. In separate saucepan, scald the milk. Very slowly, pour milk over yolk mixture & beat constantly with beater or wire whisk. If making "chocolate crema", add the grated chocolate at this point. Continue cooking on low heat with a wooden spoon until boiling point. Then continue cooking for 3-4 minutes longer. Remove from heat &
stir in butter. Pour into bowl & press plastic wrap over top. Chill for 3-4 hours in refridgerator.

Part 4 - The icing on the cake
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 - 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Note: I use a whipped cream frosting becuase it's light. Some people prefer to use a gelatin/whipped cream method. My advice is to go with whatever floats your boat.

In small bowl, beat cream, sugar & vanilla with electric beater until stiff peaks form. Makes about 4 cups. Chill until ready to use.

Let's assemble this thing...
Once you've turned the cakes out of their pans, slice each in half so that you have 4 pieces. Place the first slab on a serving platter. Using a skewer or toothpick, poke holes all over the slab of cake, then begin to sprinkle it with the rum mixture. Use a spoon so that you don't oversaturate the cake. Allow it to soak in for a few minutes. Spread the crema over top (if you're using vanilla & chocolate, I use chocoalte on the first layer). Place another slab of cake on top of the crema. Repeat the same process (poke holes, sprinkle with rum), then top with vanilla crema. Repeat process again, so you're alternating the creama. Once you have the last layer on the cake (do not sprinkle the last layer with rum!!!), cover it with the icing. To make the cake truly authentic, you'll want to decorate the sides with slivered almonds or hazelnuts (I much prefer hazelnuts). Let it sit in teh refridgerator for a few hours. If you can make the cake a day in advance, all the better! The flavours will blend & the rum will soak through the cake. You'll be left with a little piece of rum-cake nirvana.

Good luck with the recipe...and enjoy!

Italian Rum Cake...old skool style!

How proud am I of my rum cake? From the top of my head to the tips of my toes, I still tingle when I think of my rum cake.

When I get an idea stuck in my head, there's no shaking it. My idea was to make an old-school Italian cake. Chalk it up to a nostalgic feeling anytime a celebration rolls around. We had some rum cake at my brother-in-law's graduation. It was okay. So-so. It wasn't mind-blowing. Just "meh". Somehow, rum cake in the 70's & 80's always tasted divine and I decided to make it my mission to recreate the perfect cake.

I didn't appreciate it when I was a 7 yr-old & all the other kids had their cherry Duncan Hines cakes topped with fluffy vanilla frosting & multicoloured sprinkles. It embarrassed me to have agigantic, ethnic delicacy... sprinkled with slivered nuts & spun sugar from Uniti Bakery in Etobicoke (needless to say, Uniti is long gone...so sad). Let's face it, anyone under 15 will not appreciate a cake loaded with rum. But that's the way it was back then for a young Italian kid. Rum cake. Take it or leave it.

How I miss Uniti Bakery rum cake.

So I took bits and pieces of recipes I found on the internet & in my mom's recipe box. See, a rum cake can't be divine unless it is made with the perfect "pan di spagna" (that's a sponge cake) and my mom's pan di spagna is out of this world! There's a story behind it as well...but I'll save that for another time. End result, the cake was delish! Oh so so so good! I had it for breakfast, lunch, dinner & dessert. I'm going to have to refrain from posting the recipe, however. Nope, it's not quite ready yet. I still have to work out a slight kink in the chocolate custard portion of the recipe. I promise to post it later. Cross my heart.