Ryan loves rum. He was so frustrated with me when we had been working on this book for six months and he discovered this recipe and we hadn't made it yet. He was affronted! So I told him if he wanted to make it so badly, he could do it himself. So Ryan was fully in charge of making this the first time we made it. And it took us at least three tries. Ryan wasn't too disappointed though because when it didn't work he still had rum cake bits, it just wasn't in cake shape. So by his feeling, he still won.
Our problem with making this cake is you bake it in a bundt pan. The only bundt pans we had at the time were pans we had gotten from our wedding, so they were super intricate and pretty and we could not find a way to grease the pan well enough so that the cake would come out. We were even double greasing with butter and pam. Nothing worked. The only solution was to find the cheapest plainest bundt pan and grease the heck out of it, when we did that, it was magic. So that is the equipment you will need to make this. Grandmother's recipe also says you can use a tube pan, so if you have that handy it would probably be the easiest version.
Once you have sorted out your pan options, grease the heck out of it. We used pam and butter. When you have it greased, you can put a 1/2 cup of chopped pecans evenly on the bottom. If you don't like, or can't eat, pecans, you can skip this step.
Preheat your oven to 325 degrees as a first step.
The best thing about this cake is you use pre-packaged mixes. So easy! Take a package of golden yellow cake mix and combine it with 1 package of instant vanilla pudding mix. We used the large size, but Grandmother didn't specify. I guess in 1970 they didn't have different sizes. Add to that 1/2 cup of oil, 1/2 cup light rum, 1/2 cup water and 4 eggs, mix well. Then once it's mixed well, mix it again for about another 2 minutes.
Pour the mix into the bundt pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50 minutes or until done (it can take up to 60 depending on elevation).
While it is baking you can prepare the hot rum glaze. To make this glaze you'll combine 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 stick of unsalted butter, 1/4 cup light rum and 1/4 cup of water into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let it boil for 2 minutes. This glaze, as you can tell by the stick of butter, is very healthy and definitely low-calories.
Once you take the cake out of the oven immediately pour the glaze on top of it. Let it cool for about 30 minutes and them remove it from the pan and plate,
Enjoy! Ryan thought this cake was amazing.
RUM CAKE
Yields: 1 cake | Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour
Ingredients
CAKE
½ cup chopped pecans
1 package butter recipe golden yellow cake mix
1 package instant vanilla pudding mix (I use the large size)
½ cup oil
½ cup light rum
½ cup water
4 eggs
HOT RUM GLAZE
1 cup sugar
1 stick butter
¼ cup light rum
¼ cup water
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 325.
Grease and flour a Bundt or tube pan. Crumble nuts in bottom of pan.
Place mixes (cake and pudding), oil, rum, water, and eggs in bowl and mix. Beat for an additional 2 minutes.
Pour into pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.
While baking, make the hot rum glaze. Make the glaze by mixing all ingredients in a saucepan and boiling for 2 minutes.
Remove cake from oven and immediately pour on Hot Rum Glaze. Let the cake cool for 30 minutes and remove to plate.